By Adam Grant
As anyone who has been called out for hypocrisy by a small child knows, kids are exquisitely attuned to gaps between what grown-ups say and what grown-ups do. If you survey American parents about what they want for their kids, more than 90 percent say one of their top priorities is that their children be caring. This makes sense: Kindness and concern for others are held as moral virtues in nearly every society and every major religion. But when you ask children what their parents want for them, 81 percent say their parents value achievement and happiness over caring.
(to read the entire article in The Atlantic, click here)
ADAM GRANT is an organizational psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. He is the author of Originals and Give and Take; a co-author of The Gift Inside the Box; and the host of TED’s WorkLife podcast.
Thank you for sharing this article. It follows the same line thought as Michele Borba’s Unselfie, which is also a very good resource for us parents.
One subject that Grant leaves out of this article is bullying. He mentions that parents discourage kindness in a fiercely competitive world, but does not go into the dynamics of bullying/ being bullied – though he does acknowledge that there isn’t much momentum for developing generosity and helpfulness in boys. I am glad to be part of a community that is willing to openly discuss these matters and act upon them.
Thanks so much for your feedback, thoughts, and reflections about what you value and what you appreciate about BFS, Elisa. For those that are interested, more about Borba and Unselfie at https://paullindenmaierheadofschoolblog.bfssb.org/2018/10/16/planting-seeds-of-empathy/