A cooperative of four Minnesota school districts launched their Say Yes to No campaign last week.  The districts of Lake Crystal, Medelia, Truman, and Maple River gathered their parents, staff and community members together for kick-off events.   Around 250 staff gathered in the afternoon to hear a Say Yes to No presentation and that night 300 parents and community members gathered to hear what Say Yes to No is all about.  Follow up book reads and discussions are planned all over the four school districts.

I asked the teachers in the afternoon if anyone was surprised that the research shows that self-discipline is twice the predictor of school success as intelligence.  None of the 250 teachers were surprised.  A typical response was that “I’d much rather have a student motivated to learn, than someone smart, but who doesn’t care.”

I also asked the teachers who had been teaching for more than 10 years if it is more difficult to keep kids’ attention today than ten years ago.  Every one of these veteran teachers said “Yes.”

The principals knew that parents were concerned when over 300 people showed up that night.  Parents know that something is out of whack, that their children are distracted.   Say Yes to No struck a chord with these parents, as it is in other communities.   Many of them said they were going to try the “Marshmallow Story” with their own kids.   Self discipline is a key character trait that leads to success in school and in life.  Self discipline helps kids stay on task, helps them finish a task, stay focused, be engaged, take on a challenge, make better decisions and resist the siren call of entitlement: “Gotta have it and gotta have it now!”   Parents who say “no” and use the parenting skills of No are re-discovering parenting strategies that work.

Dr. Dave