"The Power (and Peril) of Praise" (article)
A friend linked to this article over on LJ and I thought it was interesting enough to share it here.
How Not to Talk to Your Kids:
The Inverse Power of Praise.
By Po Bronson
[...]When parents praise their children’s intelligence, they believe they are providing the solution to this problem. According to a survey conducted by Columbia University, 85 percent of American parents think it’s important to tell their kids that they’re smart. In and around the New York area, according to my own (admittedly nonscientific) poll, the number is more like 100 percent. Everyone does it, habitually. The constant praise is meant to be an angel on the shoulder, ensuring that children do not sell their talents short.
But a growing body of research—and a new study from the trenches of the New York public-school system—strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of “smart” does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.
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In some twisted way I see where they are coming from...a kid gets told all the time he/she is smart, whther or not they are, they start to "rest on their laurels" so to speak (whatever that means!) and they stop working hard, studying hard etc.
BUT
I still think it is way better than telling kids they are stupid.
My parents never praised my intelligence! So this study doesn't apply to me!
LOL!
hmm, now that's a switch.
But then again, they used to say we shouldn't spank our kids too and then look what happened.