Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it.

Teenagers crave independence. The more self-suf-ficient we make them feel, the less hostile they are toward us.

A modern teacher educates children to value their emotions.

Responsibility is fostered by allowing children a voice and wherever indicated a choice in matters that affect them.

Misbehavior and punishment are not opposites that cancel each other - on the contrary they breed and reinforce each other.

When children feel understood, their loneliness and hurt diminish. When children are understood, their love for their parent is deepened. A parent's sympathy serves as emotional first aid for bruised feelings. When we genuinely acknowledge a child's plight and voice her disappointment, she often gathers the strength to face reality.

How can we help a child change from undependable to dependable, from a mediocre student to a capable student, from someone who won't amount to very much to someone who will count for something. The answer is at once both simple and complicated: We treat a child as if he already is what we would like him to become.