Reverse Psychology

The teacher of this school is a good counselor . He always gave very enlightening motivational talks.

What make me ponder was the topic of his motivational talk on smoking.

“Students, how many of you are smoking?”

None put up their hands.

“OK, I am going to give you a piece of paper. Tick (/) if you smoke and (X) if you don’t.”

Out of the 158 students, 98 ticked (/). That constitute more than 50% of the Form Four students. All boys.

“Why do you think, your principal, your teachers, your parents scolded you if you smoked? Tell me why are they angry?”

The students answered: It’s a waste of money. Health reasons. Too young.

“No,” the counselor told the boys.

“The reason why teachers and parents don’t want you to smoke is because of WHO YOU ARE.”

“What do you mean, teacher?”

“If you‘re a doctor, a lawyer , a diplomat or a politician, will your father get angry or scolded you for smoking?”

“No, sir.”

“So why don’t you stop smoking now and start smoking when you are somebody, so that nobody will scold you for smoking. What do you think?”

Ponder.

CIKGUTANYA: Is it reverse psychology?