{"id":7222,"date":"2026-04-05T18:59:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T18:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=7222"},"modified":"2026-04-05T18:59:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T18:59:37","slug":"harvard-psychologists-have-been-studying-what-it-takes-to-raise-good-kids-here-are-6-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=7222","title":{"rendered":"Harvard psychologists have been studying what it takes to raise \u2018good\u2019 kids. Here are 6 tips."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Help unlock your child\u2019s best self with a few tried-and-true strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot of parents are tired of being told how technology is screwing up their kids. Moms and dads of the digital age are well aware of the growing competition for their children\u2019s attention, and they\u2019re bombarded at each turn of the page or click of the mouse with both cutting-edge ideas and newfound worries for raising great kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beneath the madness of modernity, the basics of raising a moral child haven\u2019t really changed. Parents want their kids to achieve their goals and find happiness, but Harvard researchers believe that doesn\u2019t have to come at the expense of kindness and empathy. They say a few tried-and-true strategies<\/a> remain the best ways to mold your kids into the morally upstanding and<\/em> goals-oriented humans you want them to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"kids,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are six practical tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Hang out with your kids.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"parenting<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is, like, the foundation of it all. Spend regular time with your kids, ask them open-ended questions about themselves, about the world and how they see it, and actively listen to their responses. Not only will you learn all sorts of things that make your child unique, you\u2019ll also be demonstrating to them how to show care and concern for another person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) If it matters, say it out loud.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"teamwork,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the researchers, \u201cEven though most parents and caretakers say that their children being caring is a top priority, often children aren\u2019t hearing that message.\u201d So be sure to say it with them. And so they know it\u2019s something they need to keep up with, check in with teachers, coaches, and others who work with your kids on how they\u2019re doing with teamwork, collaboration, and being a generally nice person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Show your child how to \u201cwork it out.\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"sports<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Walk them through decision-making processes that take into consideration people who could be affected. For example, if your child wants to quit a sport or other activity, encourage them to identify the source of the problem and consider their commitment to the team. Then help them figure out if quitting does, in fact, fix the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Make helpfulness and gratitude routine.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"problem<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The researchers write, \u201cStudies show that people who engage in the habit of expressing gratitude are more likely to be helpful, generous, compassionate, and forgiving \u2014 and they\u2019re also more likely to be happy and healthy.\u201d So it\u2019s good for parents to hold the line on chores, asking kids to help their siblings, and giving thanks throughout the day. And when it comes to rewarding \u201cgood\u201d behavior, the researchers recommend that parents \u201conly praise uncommon acts of kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) Check your child\u2019s destructive emotions.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"negative<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ability to care for others is overwhelmed by anger, shame, envy, or other negative feelings,\u201d say the researchers. Helping kids name and process those emotions, then guiding them toward safe conflict resolution, will go a long way toward keeping them focused on being a caring individual. It\u2019s also important to set clear and reasonable boundaries that they\u2019ll understand are out of love and concern for their safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Show your kids the bigger picture.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"empathy,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlmost all children empathize with and care about a small circle of families and friends,\u201d say the researchers. The trick is getting them to care about people who are socially, culturally, and even geographically <\/em>outside their circles. You can do this by coaching them to be good listeners, by encouraging them to put themselves in other people\u2019s shoes, and by practicing empathy using teachable moments in news and entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study concludes with a short pep talk for all the parents out there:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cRaising a caring, respectful, ethical child is and always has been hard work. But it\u2019s something all of us can do. And no work is more important or ultimately more rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Help unlock your child\u2019s best self with a few tried-and-true strategies. A lot of parents are tired of being told how technology is screwing up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/666541411_1420698630091124_754322617675582972_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7224,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7222\/revisions\/7224"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}