As the family court administrator at the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada, Leonard P. Cash provides executive level support to family court judges on juvenile justice and operational matters. Committed to empowering parents to raise hopeful children, Leonard P. Cash, PhD, is the author of Hopeful Kids.
Hopeful Kids are nurtured by hopeful parents. Parents play a crucial role in developing their children’s positive outlook of the future. This is because from birth all the way to adulthood, they are the most powerful influences in a child’s life. If parents themselves are hopeful, the children naturally acquire a hopeful attitude towards life and when hope is ingrained in children at an early age, it only grows and flourishes as they grow.
However, many parents are not hopeful themselves. A large number of them never had positive influences growing up, hence, they never grew up to feel this hope. For these parents, learning to be hopeful themselves must precede teaching their children this same optimism. The quickest way to do this is to act hopeful. It has been documented that acting in a certain way leads to developing the behavior genuinely in the long run.
Acting hopeful is as simple as acquiring positive attitudes and making positive choices. Recognize the positive qualities you may give your child such as time, support, honesty, inspiration, courage, and love. Afterwards, find the positive qualities your child has such as artistic or athletic talent, good study habits, and leadership. Commit yourself to offering more positive qualities to your child and to appreciating and nurturing his or her positive qualities.
