Here's the other side: Kids are often cruel. Kids say demeaning things to other kids. One of the frequent ones is "You're stupid". And some kids are more emotionally fragile than others. I don't want my fragile kid to hear "You're stupid", perhaps frequently, without it being countered by affirmation that she is not in fact stupid.

But I also don't want that to be the equivalent of "participation awards" in Little League. For it to be of any real value, it has to go with teaching her how to actually think.