-
Motivate. Don’t Manipulate Your Kids.
Once again, his room isn’t clean, not by any standard. Her backpack, jacket, and shoes are scattered about the floor of the hall, again. His grades are sub-par in math, again. She is making the family late to school, again. He seems to be nonchalant about his music audition this weekend. She isn’t running enough…
-
Kids in Cars Talking Life
The car is where the best stories have a chance to run and really stretch out their legs freely. It’s where sarcasm bursts up out of nowhere and cracks everyone up. It’s where kids break into tears after a horrible day at school. It’s where questions are posed, debates develop, and problems get solved. The…
-
Texting vs. Talking
There is no doubt that text messaging can be, in the right situations, the most efficient, convenient form of communication ever invented. It’s genius. However, there is a tremendous amount of doubt about whether, on the whole, it actually improves human communication, especially among young people. Many people feel that it is stunting the development…
-
Just Believe in Yourself
“Just believe in yourself, and you can achieve anything.” “Pursue your dream, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it.” “If you dream it, you can be it.” Countless movies, songs, TV shows, and motivational speakers have preached this message. And countless teachers, coaches, and counselors preach the same message. Parents teach…
-
Facebook Kids
The most common questions that parents have today are all related to Facebook, since every student wants full access and most parents don’t know enough about it. It is a generational thing, like rock and roll was misunderstood by our grandparents. In the same way that our parents monitored our use of the telephone, television,…
-
Training Up Independent Kids
Embracing Mistakes; Developing Problem-Solvers Thomas Edison believed that failure was not a bad thing; it merely directed him closer to success. He embraced his mistakes as opportunities to learn, and he ultimately succeeded as the greatest inventor of all time. The truth is that you want your children (or students) to learn from their mistakes,…
-
The Power of Choice
Children lack power. They can control very little in their lives, until they get a license to drive and the keys to the car. So, when they don’t get choices, they seek power; they just find ways to push our buttons, in the hope that perhaps we will give them choices. You can’t blame them…
-
Discipline vs. Punishment
Heart-to-Heart Connection A long time ago, in a land far away, I was the principal of a small elementary school. One of my first disciplinary problems was with a 12-year-old boy who was riding his bike aggressively on the playground and sidewalks after school, which was against the rules. He continued to disobey the orders…
-
Heart-to-Heart Connection
Parenting, teaching, and coaching are mutual pursuits. At this stage in my life, I am involved in all three, and I firmly believe that the daily problems I face, the skills I develop, and the lessons I learn are parallel. So, when I recently read a book on parenting, it actually spoke more to me…
-
Role Models
Charles Barkley, the great basketball player and television personality, once said at the height of his NBA career, “I’m not a role model… Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids. If you want a role model, look up to your parents. A lot of guys can dunk a basketball…