Po Bronson, author of NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children urges parents to rethink common child rearing advice.

In a recent interview with guest host Hana Gartner on CBC Radio's The Current, Bronson called his latest book some anti-advice for parents.

That's because so much of what they've heard about child rearing is not borne out by the latest science.

Take the myth of self-esteem. Who hasn't laughed at the breakfast table while reading that incarcerated prisoners can score higher on self-esteem tests than most (anxious) high school students?

Still, what parents don't want their children to be steeped in a comforting bath of self-confidence? Self-esteem is supposed to be a psychological vaccine, to help immunize young people from life's difficulties.

Bronson, himself, was no different. He lavished praise onto his kids, partly in an attempt to make up for his own emotionally deficient childhood.

With his eldest child, Luke, Bronson was always telling him that he was ever so smart. But through the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, Bronson discovered that praising our children for being oh so smart is the wrong thing to do.

You think you're making them feel empowered and it certainly makes them feel special.
But the lesson they learn is that "either you're smart or you're not," as Bronson told Gartner so concisely. And it's the kind of lesson that can backfire.

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Do you praise your children? Do you believe in positive reinforcement? What advice would you give new parents?