The Roundup: Parent Your Kids, Victim Mindsets Breed Selfishness, and Aristotle on Living Well
Ideas, Links, & Recommendations
A weekly roundup on character, culture, and the education we actually need.
This Week’s Feature Post
An excerpt:
Too many young people struggle with the basics: making eye contact, greeting politely, putting their phones away, saying “thank you.” When schools, parents, and communities don’t coordinate and clarify expectations for young people, the most fundamental building blocks of character never get formed.
These “small things” often matter more than academics. The student who can introduce himself, hold a conversation, and own his mistakes will go farther in life than the one with perfect test scores but no physical presence or sense of responsibility. These disciplines and habits of conduct shape how others see us. They inspire trust and respect. Right or wrong, they tilt the deck in our favor.
In Case You Missed It
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Ideas, Links, & Recommendations
Take the moral formation of your kids seriously. If you don’t intentionally cultivate values, other forces will swoop in to fill that void.
“The single most important job of any parent—to raise good people—is one so many of us are failing….
Families need to retool and take the moral education of our children much more personally and seriously.
Parents often ask me how they can shield their young children from nonsense. Usually, their question is posed with a disarming timidity. Is there a therapist I can send her to? Is there a different school? Maybe I can talk to her principal? I know they’re beaten down by a culture that denigrates them.
Gently as I can, I remind them that they are the parents—the kids’ authority. Inhabit that role with confidence, or someone else will.”
Source: Parent Your Kids, Abigail Shrier
Having a victim mentality makes you more likely to leave trash, steal pens, and otherwise behave selfishly.
“Stanford psychologists took 104 subjects and assigned them to one of two groups—one told to write a short essay about a time they were bored, and the other to write about a time when life seemed unfair or when they felt “wronged or slighted by someone.”
Afterward, the participants were asked if they wanted to help the researchers with an easy task. Those who’d written about a time they’d been wronged were 26 percent less likely to help the researchers. In a similar study, participants who identified with a victim mindset were not only more likely to express selfish attitudes afterward, they were also more likely to leave behind trash and even take the experimenters’ pens!”
Source: Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty
Also worth your time:
Aristotle — How to Live a Good Life by Ralph Ammer
Financial Advice for My New Son by Morgan Housel
From the Archives:
Thank you for reading Setting the Bar. If this work resonates, please share.
Shane