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The proper response to that is still not to force your kid to study though. Instead, she should be made aware that in order to consistently do well, she is ulti

The proper response to that is still not to force your kid to study though. Instead, she should be made aware that in order to consistently do well, she is ultimately expected to gain the ability to force herself and defer the immediate gratification of watching a YouTube video (unless that YouTube video is a boring recorded college lecture that's relevant to her studies, I suppose).

cyberax 6mo ago
Well, and how are you going to do that?
crabbone 6mo ago
This fails with a sizeable portion of adults... and you expect children to somehow understand delayed gratification? To force themselves? Have you ever met an actual child? Just a week ago mine found and devoured a pack of cookies that were meant for supper and then cried at supper that there weren't any cookies left, choking on a hated apple instead. Guess he won't do it again in a week if there's another pack of cookies in the hand's reach? Guess again!
- zozbot234 6mo ago
  > Just a week ago mine found and devoured a pack of cookies that were meant for supper and then cried at supper that there weren't any cookies left This was famously tested with the Stanford marshmallow experiment. A sizeable fraction of kids - preschool kids, no less - can in fact learn not to eat the marshmallow.
  - crabbone 6mo ago
    Can learn? -- I'm sure! Will they learn without any "encouragement"? -- Absolutely not. There are millions of people struggling to get on a diet, to quit smoking, to stop doom-scrolling their choice of social media. Most of them know very well how good it would be to stop doing bad things and start doing something good instead, and yet they don't. Children are worse, overall, because life isn't as harsh for them as it is for adults. An alcoholic who can't quit drinking is risking his marriage, his career, on top of his health, and still pulls out a stashed flask and takes a sip. The worst that can happen to a child is that their parents will yell at him / her? That's a very weak deterrent against doing something that offers instant gratification.

cyberax 6mo ago

Well, and how are you going to do that?

crabbone 6mo ago

This fails with a sizeable portion of adults... and you expect children to somehow understand delayed gratification? To force themselves? Have you ever met an actual child? Just a week ago mine found and devoured a pack of cookies that were meant for supper and then cried at supper that there weren't any cookies left, choking on a hated apple instead. Guess he won't do it again in a week if there's another pack of cookies in the hand's reach? Guess again!

zozbot234 6mo ago
> Just a week ago mine found and devoured a pack of cookies that were meant for supper and then cried at supper that there weren't any cookies left This was famously tested with the Stanford marshmallow experiment. A sizeable fraction of kids - preschool kids, no less - can in fact learn not to eat the marshmallow.
- crabbone 6mo ago
  Can learn? -- I'm sure! Will they learn without any "encouragement"? -- Absolutely not. There are millions of people struggling to get on a diet, to quit smoking, to stop doom-scrolling their choice of social media. Most of them know very well how good it would be to stop doing bad things and start doing something good instead, and yet they don't. Children are worse, overall, because life isn't as harsh for them as it is for adults. An alcoholic who can't quit drinking is risking his marriage, his career, on top of his health, and still pulls out a stashed flask and takes a sip. The worst that can happen to a child is that their parents will yell at him / her? That's a very weak deterrent against doing something that offers instant gratification.