How Do We Define Success For Kids?

How Do We Define Success For Kids?

In an achievement-oriented culture -- where mounting academic and college admissions pressures are beginning earlier in life than ever -- raising balanced, resilient children can be a challenge.

George Estrada, Vice President of Technology at the Center for American Progress, told HuffPost Live's Nancy Redd that children are feeling the pressures of achievement earlier and earlier.

"Our culture is this hyper success-driven idea that you have to be successful all the time," he said. "There's a medal for everything, there's a trophy for everything, so the minute you don't get it, you feel you've failed."

But getting children aligned with a philosophy of looking inward, upward and onward -- one that is preached to adults -- can be tricky, according to Renee Jain, an expert on childhood resilience and happiness.

"You talk about The Third Metric and aiming to redefine success going beyond money and power, but what's the equivalent of money and power for kids? So how do we define success for kids?" Jain asked.

Jain explored the answer to those questions in a blog post published here on HuffPost. "Let's teach our children that goals aren't intangible, floating ideals. Let's teach them that it doesn't always matter where the starting line is. What matters more is a commitment to work hard, to accept failure as an opportunity to learn and a re-commitment to work harder," she wrote.

Catch the full conversation on Third Metric parenting at HuffPost Live HERE.

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