{"id":5450,"date":"2018-12-31T12:35:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T17:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/?p=5450"},"modified":"2022-05-29T08:14:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-29T13:14:32","slug":"1152-powerful-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/31\/1152-powerful-words\/","title":{"rendered":"#1152 Powerful Words"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re too fat.\u201d
\u201cWhy would you want\u00a0that?\u201d
\u201cOh, come on. That\u2019s so easy!\u201d<\/em>

Small words have lasting effects on\u00a0brain development in youth and the “prevalence of anger, hostility and depression in adulthood.”<\/a><\/strong> (PsychologyToday.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Words affect outcomes. (Photo: OnePixel.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Developmental Roots<\/strong>
I\u2019ve always been fascinated by the factors that turn people into who they are. There are enormously diverse factors \u2013\u00a0nature and nurture<\/a><\/strong>.

Our genes and predispositions are hard to change \u2013 propensity towards height,\u00a0specific intelligences<\/a><\/strong>.

Environmental factors, of course, have a large impact on development \u2013 adequate shelter, nourishment affect the ability to grow and stresses on growth.

Social factors also have an enormous effect on the development of a person. Vygotsky built his socio-cultural theory<\/strong><\/a> of learning on the idea that we are products of the people that surround us.

Choosing Support<\/strong>
A good friend once told me \u201cSurround yourself with supportive people.<\/em>\u201d I believe that is sage advice and will support a stronger, healthier person \u2013 and I do not mean physical strength.

Providing Support<\/strong>
Imagine growing up being told, regularly, by people you look up to (teachers, family, coaches) you\u2019re too thin, fat, not good enough, disappointing. Direct words have a great impact but subtle insinuations, disapproving glances also have a lasting effect if repeated enough. Many will start to believe what they\u2019re told.\u00a0

Imagine, instead of focusing on negatives, the same people sought to comment on positives:
\u2022 “You look good.”
\u2022 “I like that book you\u2019ve chosen.”
\u2022 “You really did well with that jigsaw puzzle.”<\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Positive words support positive development. (Photo: OnePixel.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I adopted my first dog in the early 1990’s I sought help to help me create an easy canine companion. I stumbled upon a book at the local library called \u201cTraining your dog positively.<\/em>\u201d It\u2019s message was simple and applied so well to my philosophy in teaching: Acknowledge and address the shortfalls (simply\/quickly) but regularly praise and promote the successes!
<\/em>
Success<\/strong>
At school I hear and see the results of positive and negative support. Children that are offered more positives and told they will succeed generally do. Children that experience more negativity often struggle with confidence and success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Options for Improving<\/strong>
There are two sides to the issue.
It would be lovely to just ask the world to praise and pursue positive support (while supporting challenges.) That means asking people (including you and me) to reflect and be aware of the impact of our words and actions on people. Less judgment. More positive support.
But that is a lofty goal.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another option is to arm children with the skills to shield themselves from negativity and pursue positive role models \u2013 another challenging goal. I see children who withstand negative influences regularly. Their role models are doing the best they can\u2026 But we can encourage children to recognize their own worth and help them seek positive friends and influencers. \u201cSurround yourself with suportive people\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen, choose your words well, and smile.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tweet \u201cYou\u2019re too fat.\u201d\u201cWhy would you want\u00a0that?\u201d\u201cOh, come on. That\u2019s so easy!\u201d Small words have lasting effects on\u00a0brain development in youth and the “prevalence of anger, hostility and depression in adulthood.” (PsychologyToday.com) Developmental RootsI\u2019ve always been fascinated by the factors Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[309,308,292,310,311,306,76,302,307,288],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5450"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5450"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5456,"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5450\/revisions\/5456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.harrynowell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}