Came across this today and thought it was worth discussing.
Boost your child's self-esteem so that he, too, will thrive in a cutthroat, competitive world.
Essentially, the article says that if you want to build self-confidence in your child, make 'em fight. Not fisticuffs, but struggle and compete. One quote out of the article is, "Self-confidence is learned by fighting your way up the pecking order."
The article says little about what the results might be if the parent pushes a child into a sport or other venue that the child isn't suited to.
Doesn't this have the potential to create the perception in the mind of a child that the world is mean, nasty and cruel? Undoubtedly, there are aspects of the world that are like that, but is there not more to life than a win-at-all-costs mentality?
Or am I way off base here?