Say something kind and specific to a younger kid. You might become a sentence they remember for fifty years.

Specific praise from someone slightly older carries weight far beyond what it costs to say. A general compliment slides off, while an accurate observation about something they did lands as evidence and gets stored. Young people are assembling a picture of themselves, and outside sentences become part of it.

Notice one concrete thing a younger person did well this week and tell them exactly what it was. Keep it short and avoid turning it into advice. You will forget the moment quickly, and there is a fair chance they will not.