Check out this wonderful Nurturing Environments article about the importance of positive recognition and praise. Because encouragement and praise helps parents, teachers, coaches, caregivers and other adults to be more positive, it reduces conflict, promotes cooperation and reduces the likelihood that young people will engage in risky behavior such as substance use or physical altercations.
The first step in learning to positively support a child is to learn how to encourage the behavior you want to see. Click here for suggestions and tools to make your home, office or classroom a positive and encouraging place for young people.