Give this dad an A+ for expressing sheer joy and elation.
A video of a man crying with happiness over his son’s improving report card has gone viral, with parents around the world praising the father for being so supportive and congratulating the boy on his hard work.
The clip was posted on YouTube this week by user “ariamark,” a British student who wrote in the description that he was failing math a year ago, but managed to get a C – a passing grade – this time around.
“(I’ve) never been amazing academically and have struggled through out school,” the boy writes. “Neither me or my dad or my teachers thought I was going to get my C.”
To capture his father’s reaction, the boy set up a camera and started recording as the dad came home and he showed his report card to him. The response is explosive.
“Is that real?” his father asks. “Is that real?” he repeats, screaming. “My God,” he then yells, immediately bursting into tears and bear-hugging his son.
The man then weeps uncontrollably for a few moments. “Are you sure?” he exclaims. “Yes,” the boy replies. More hugging and weeping then follows as the father closely examines the report card.
“It’s so heartwarming. Any parent can totally understand how he’s feeling,” said Amy McCready, a TODAY Moms contributor and author of the parenting guide, “If I Have to Tell You One More Time.”
“That was just coming from the heart. He couldn’t control that if he tried… all parents want their kids to succeed and do their best.”
The key step for the dad now is to reinforce and encourage whatever efforts his son took to create that improvement in academic performance: the hard work, the persistence, the extra study time, or perhaps meeting with teachers to get extra help, McCready said.
“Because you don’t want to send the message that it’s just about the grade,” she added.
“He may work his tail off next semester but might not get the C. But if he worked his tail off and did all those great things – we want to really encourage that because those are the things that he can repeat in all aspects of his life, not just math.”
So what should you do if you’re worried about your child’s grades?
Lots of encouragement is the key, McCready advised. Encourage your child to put in the study time and get extra help if needed. But also make sure your kids are responsible and own their own success, she noted.
“If the parents are constantly on the kid’s back and it turns into a big power struggle about the grades then the child is not going to feel encouraged,” McCready said.