If you’re a parent, is your child getting enough Vitamin N? It may be the most important thing you can give them. But what exactly does Vitamin N do? Watch this video to find out.
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Script:
I want to tell you about an essential vitamin you’ve probably never heard of. If you’re a parent, or plan to be one, it might be more important to your child’s growth than all other vitamins combined. And only you, a parent, can provide it.
I call it Vitamin N. The word “No.”
More and more children, I find, are suffering from Vitamin N deficiency. And they, their parents, and our entire culture are paying the price.
Let me illustrate my point with a story that’s quite typical. A father, I’ll call him Bill, gave his son, age five, pretty much everything the little boy asked for. Like most parents, Bill wanted more than anything for his son to be happy. But he wasn’t. Instead he was petulant, moody, and often sullen. He was also having problems getting along with other children. In addition, he was very demanding and rarely if ever expressed any appreciation, let alone gratitude, for all the things Bill and his wife were giving him. Was his son depressed, Bill wanted to know? Did he need therapy? His son, I told him, was suffering the predictable ill effects of being over-indulged. What he needed was a healthy and steady dose of Vitamin N.
Over-indulgence–a deficiency of Vitamin N—leads to its own form of addiction. When the point of diminishing returns is passed (and it’s passed fairly early on), the receiving of things begins to generate nothing but want for more things. One terrible effect of this is that our children are becoming accustomed to a material standard that’s out of kilter with what they can ever hope to achieve as adults. Consider also that many, if not most, children attain this level of affluence not by working, sacrificing, or doing their best, but by whining, demanding, and manipulating. So in the process of inflating their material expectations, we also teach children that something can be had for next to nothing. Not only is that a falsehood, it’s also one of the most dangerous, destructive attitudes a person can acquire.
This may go a long way toward explaining why the mental health of children in the 1950s – when kids got a lot less — was significantly better than the mental health of today’s kids. Since the ‘50s, and especially in the last few decades, as indulgence has become the parenting norm, the rates of child and teen depression have skyrocketed.
Children who grow up believing in the something-for-nothing fairy tale are likely to become emotionally stunted, self-centered adults. Then, when they themselves become parents, they’re likely to overdose their children with material things – the piles of toys, plushies, and gadgets one finds scattered around most households. In that way, over indulgence—a deficiency of Vitamin N—becomes an inherited disease, an addiction passed from one generation to the next.
This also explains why children who get too much of what they want rarely take proper care of anything they have. Why should they? After all, experience tells them that more is always on the way.
For the complete script, visit
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Make sure to give your kids more vitamin Wonka.
this might be true but pragerU as a source is actually a negative towards whatever point is trying to be made
Mary Lennox from the book “The Secret Garden” is a perfect example of a lack of vitamin n
I love the "hyper realistic" thumbnail
Insightful
He is a genious!
This is exactly what happened when it came to fast food/candy/cereal, etc. advertising to children therefore letting them get overweight by overindulging them and not disciplining their kids. It's led to them blaming anyone but themselves also turning reality upside down and mascots like Ronald McDonald get blamed for the childhood obesity epidemic when in reality, it is the parents fault for not disciplining their kids with too much of what should be something on special occasions. Ridiculous! When will they ever learn??
I don't know what kids had this but man as an Hispanic kid I had to work to get what I wanted (not all the time either I got what I wanted I was thought you work hard and not get everything you want just because you cry or work) I think I'm pretty good in my Vitamin N level. All thanks to the my wonderful Hispanic parents.
“Vitamin N”, from the makers of “Because I Said So”. Parents also need to use a united front, not undermine the other one by saying “Yes” when another one says “No”.
George Carlin would like a few words with this moron
This a-hole isn’t even a real physiologist lol
0:52 When he said “petulant, moody, and often sullen” wasn’t he saying the same thing 3 times?
I've showed this video to countless people who NEEDED to hear this over the years. It never gets old!
Just a friendly reminder that this guy is still not a real psychologist.
I agree to external extend that sometimes kids need vitamin N but I think it's mostly fine to give kids what they want at times as long as it isn't bad or you give things to them all the time but when you do give something to them they should always be thankful for it
It's not just children who lack vitamin N these days; they've already trained women and minorities that vitamin N is a No-No.
I agree with this video. It can really help with discipline as long as the parent doesn't scream it or say no to EVERY little thing and not give them any opportunity to earn any of it. Everything in moderation. I like to buy myself one nice treat when the bills are paid for the month.
My mother, God rest her immortal soul, used to say I can't stand these parents who say that they are their kid's best friend. "You're not there to be their friend" she used to say.
This guy is even dumber than Dr. Phil. He definitely needs his license revoked!
As a behavior analyst, I approve this message. Key rule is ignore non-functional behavior and reward functional behavior. Time and time again, I have helped families with children who have severe behavior issues turn their entire family around with this simple rule. Children are VERY smart, even as young as 18 months, they learn how to manipulate to get what they want. If they get rewarded by tanturms, guess what..they LEARN TO TANTRUM! Interestingly, children will even start to RESPECT and LOVE parents MORE when they are given boundaries. They trust their parents to guide them into understanding right and wrong. And they actually enjoy having purpose and structure and EARNING something instead of just being given it. They want to feel you trust them too, to listen and follow instructions. Try it!