Haim Ginott Quotes & Sayings

Teenagers crave independence. The more self-suf-ficient we make them feel, the less hostile they are toward us. — Haim Ginott

Wise parents know that fighting a teenager, like fighting a riptide, is inviting doom. — Haim Ginott

Treat a child as though he already is the person he's capable of becoming. — Haim Ginott

To sense when a teenager needs understanding and when misunderstanding is a difficult and delicate task. The sad truth is that no matter how wise we are, we cannot be right for any length of time in our teenagers' eyes. — Haim Ginott

I have great faith in 'ordinary parents.' Who has a child's welfare more at heart than his ordinary parent? It's been my experience that when parents are given the skills to be more helpful, not only are they able to use these skills, but they infuse them with a warmth and a style that is uniquely their own. — Haim Ginott

I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my personal approach that creates the climate. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a student's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a student humanized or de-humanized. — Haim Ginott

To be himself, one neeeds to be free from the pressure of evaluative praise — Haim Ginott

Many teenagers are tormented by terrors they deem private and personal. They do not know that their anxieties and doubts are universal. — Haim Ginott

Adolescence can be a time of turmoil and turbulence, of stress and storm. Rebellion against authority and against convention is to be expected and tolerated for the sake of learning and growth. — Haim Ginott

Responsibility is fostered by allowing children a voice and wherever indicated a choice in matters that affect them. — Haim Ginott

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it. — Haim Ginott

A modern teacher educates children to value their emotions. — Haim Ginott

Only if a child feels right can he think right. — Haim Ginott

Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task. — Haim Ginott

When children feel understood, their loneliness and hurt diminish. When children are understood, their love for their parent is deepened. A parent's sympathy serves as emotional first aid for bruised feelings. When we genuinely acknowledge a child's plight and voice her disappointment, she often gathers the strength to face reality. — Haim Ginott

The search for a personal identity is the life task of a teenager. — Haim Ginott

How can we help a child change from undependable to dependable, from a mediocre student to a capable student, from someone who won't amount to very much to someone who will count for something. The answer is at once both simple and complicated: We treat a child as if he already is what we would like him to become. — Haim Ginott

Whenever I hear about a child needing something, I ask myself, 'Is it what he needs or what he wants?' It isn't always easy to distinguish between the two. A child has many real needs which can and should be satisfied. His wants are a bottomless pit. He wants, for example, to sleep with his parents. He needs to be in his own bed. At Christmas he wants every toy advertised on television. He needs only one or two. — Haim Ginott

When gentle persuasion [of children] falls on deaf ears, we resort to ridicule and rebuke. Then we return to threats and punishment. This is the modus operandi of a mutual frustration society. — Haim Ginott

Each of us carries within himself a collection of instant insults. — Haim Ginott