Each reader thinks he's confirming their own private intuitions, which makes them them feel smart and good, which makes them like him more.
Or is that just marketing/exaggeration?
What's wrong with telling a kid he's bad at something, and should move on to try other things?
At a young age, the point is just to give exposure to many experiences, so that they can learn what they love and what they might like to be good at.
My point is that the world we present to children should be more representative of the real world. I think your mom was doing the right thing by giving you that honest evaluation, even though it was obviously wrong.
I agree with that. I just think it's very difficult to tell if a child is innately bad at something and should try something else, or if they are bad it but could greatly improve with practice.
No. They're expected to screw up and it looks better on camera anyways.
If your pudgy slow kid wants to pick his nose on the soccer field with chocolate ice cream on his uniform, by God let him.
Sure, at some point you help to lead them to excel... but before that point let them engage in whatever they want.
What you want to avoid is the fools that get up on American Idol and break windows because they've never been told that they suck. If you tell a 7 year old he sucks though, they often just believe you and never really try.
Somewhere in between the first experience and being a william hung though, the role of the parent is to ensure that the child can properly evaluate himself against others.
This is achieved in a gentle manner over time, simply by not blowing smoke up someone's butt but at the same time being supportive of practice, learning and effort.
For every Michael Jordan there are millions of washed up bums that were probably just as skilled at one point. There's no hard and fast formula, and it falls on the parent to draw the line.
Everyone can act at age 7. To suggest otherwise is being a little extreme.
During the Q&A session at a Seth Godin lecture I attended, a parent asked him a question about how he taught his kids. He answered with a story about how the school his children attended was doing a play. Seth suggested that instead of having one kid play the lead role for the entire play that they rotate it - so that every kid could get the chance to be the star/be the main role. The kids loved it, most parents loved it.