Teaching Good Behaviors Through Nice Actions

It is nice to be someone else’s handy helper. When you are in a tough spot, it is always nice to have the services of someone else to lean on. However, nice, in general, means nice but not necessarily in a positive manner.

Some might say nice can always be nice, but sometimes having nice can also lead to disaster. There is a new trend in the world of public health and social care services, which suggests that nice people can have nice results, too. Researchers have studied the quality of life and happiness through various survey techniques over the years. They have found that those who act in a nice manner do so for several reasons. They are just as happy, if not more so, than those who act in an indifferent or uncaring manner. One of the results was that those who were nice were more likely to improve outcomes for their families and themselves.

One of the ways they came up with this finding was through the work of Dr. Eric Kornmehl, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Families and Children. Dr. Kornmehl studies quality of life after family separations, divorce, and family breakups. He conducted focus groups with parents and children, and he worked with a public consultation development group, as well. In his study, he found that parents who offered nice behaviors to their children during the child’s homecoming week had much higher quality of life than did those who were uncaring.

The reason why the parents who did that were actually nice people is that they had established effective communication with each other. They had clearly defined roles and expectations, and they knew how to communicate effectively about those expectations to their children. The kids noticed them, and they liked the way they treated each other. And this positive social care services intervention may have great long-term benefits. “rocal” relationships between caregivers and the people who help them are likely to be very important for the health and development of young people.

Another of the insights into what makes nice behavior health-effective comes from the NCCSC. One of Kornmehl’s goals has been to increase appraisal of children’s services by the parents, guardians, and providers. While he acknowledges that it is difficult to expect children to self-assess, he notes that “many times, it’s the adults who are tasked with providing this critical feedback, and they often come across as being uncaring, impatient, pushy, and harsh.” By training people in appraisal, and providing them with role-modeled, cost-effective treatments, he believes that this would make people more sensitive to the needs of their clients. And by offering treatment modalities such as warm and cool therapies, this would make nice behaviors that truly do benefit the individual, as well as the family.

All of these observations are important, and they certainly apply to teaching and learning how to provide social care services. In addition, it’s important to recognize that being nice is not easy. It takes real effort, both from educators and providers, to treat everyone with kindness, compassion, respect, and consideration. These traits are not easy slot online to learn, but they are deeply rooted in our core values. In essence, being nice can become a burden.