If you’re reading this, and you have kids… do not ever, under any circumstances, tell them that they are stupid. If they make mistakes, and they will, they are kids, and they are human — then explain that mistakes are how we learn. But do not ever, ever tell them they are stupid, make fun of them, or otherwise make them feel inconsequential in their ability to improve their own lives.
I am sitting here reading a book, a programming book I’ve had in my possession for some time, with a bookmark placed where I left off reading. At one point I just stopped reading it… and I wasn’t sure why until tonight.
I’ve got great reading comprehension, always have — but because this is a book on programming somehow it set off a math-trigger thing. Afraid I’d find out that I didn’t understand it, that I was too “stupid” to understand it, so I just stopped.
Now that I’ve started reading it again, I realize, of course I understand it! I am smart, I can comprehend, I can still learn. It was really hard to write “I am smart” just then really hard. It should not be so difficult.