One of the things I hate most in this world is the art of sugar coating. You know, the "Oh you did great! Now lets get the problem right." For me, sugar coating is a waste of time, a lie and worst of all, a inhibitor on my capacity to achieve.
I have to admit that sugar coating is really nice to hear. All the compliments and positive feelings brings a great bit joy to my heart. Still, it's somewhat a waste of energy and time. CEOs and managers don't care if you tried hard but failed. All they're going to say is "Strike one." The whole point of sugar coating is to not hurt the person's feeling, but at my age, I think we can handle it.
Sugar coating is a lie. Plain and simple. If I suck, tell me "You suck at so-and-so." I hate it when people says: "Oh you did extremely well," when you know that it is an awful job. I've been trained not to lie, and during that period of training, I have developed a pretty strong stance against lying.
The worst thing that a mentor can do to a student is to sugar coat stuff. The whole point of a teacher is to help the student achieve more, not to waste his or her time on psychological support (that's a job for friends and families). If I thinkthat a part of my tennis game is very strong, but actually is quite weak, I want to know. A plain "you have to work on this-and-this because your transition game sucks right now" hurts no one but gives me both motivation and direction in practices.
Sugar coating may be appropriate for little kids, but for mature teens like me, I think I can handle it.
-runiteking1
Yeah, I agree. Sugar coating is pretty useless, especially for kids in AP classes who have to take the exam. If you fail the exam, even if you tried hard, you didnt pass and its not ok. You failed. Not good. Doesnt matter what people say. Sugar coating things is pretty much a waste of time.
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