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5-Minute Videos | PragerU

What Did Your Parents Most Want You To Be?

5-Minute Videos | PragerU

PragerU

History, Education, Business, Self-improvement, Non-profit

4.86.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2019

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When parents boast about their children with other people, what do most say first? Is it how nice they are to strangers? Or how much volunteering they did last year? Usually not. More often, they talk about their good grades in school, or the prestigious college they went to, or the much sought after summer internship they are on. But this is backwards. Acts of kindness are what parents should talk about with others, and what they should really praise their kids for. According to Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, the best way to make a better world is to praise people for what counts--goodness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

A lot of the things that are wrong with the world, we can't fix by ourselves.

0:06.0

As much as we'd like to see peace brought to troubled areas, corrupt governments reformed,

0:11.0

cancers cured, there's a limited amount that any of us as individuals can do about such

0:16.4

things.

0:17.4

However, there is one thing that nearly all of us can do that will immediately and exponentially

0:23.8

increase goodness and happiness on earth.

0:27.3

Children's and all other adults should reserve their highest praise of children for when

0:32.5

their children do kind acts.

0:34.9

That is not the case at present.

0:37.5

As a rule, children receive their highest compliments for one of four things.

0:42.1

They're intellectual and academic achievements.

0:44.6

My son, Sean, is brilliant.

0:46.3

His teacher says he's the best student she's had in years.

0:50.4

Their athletic abilities, their artistic attainments, and in the case of girls, their looks.

0:57.2

Children who receive their parents and other adults' compliments in these areas are delighted.

1:02.9

Everyone loves compliments.

1:04.7

But what about the child who doesn't excel at academics who isn't the gifted athlete

1:09.2

or dancer, the girl who is not particularly pretty, about what will their parents praise

1:14.8

them?

1:15.8

Most flattering remarks such a child is likely to hear their parents tell others, will

1:20.2

be something like, but he or she is a really good kid.

1:24.6

In which it can generally be inferred that being a good kid is not a big deal.

...

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