Respect, kindness, honesty, courage, perseverance, self-discipline, compassion, generosity, dependability. Most parents want to instill these kinds of values in their children. Doing so will protect them from potentially negative societal influences and lay the foundation for them to become good citizens. We’re not fulfilling our responsibilities as parents if we don’t try to instill solid morals in our children.
Thank your children when they clean their rooms without being asked or they do their homework without grumbling. Acknowledge what a good job they did when they finished a seemingly grueling school assignment. If you walk into the living room and notice your children playing nicely together, tell them how wonderful it makes you feel to see them getting along so well.
As teachers and parents, we follow certain principles in our roles. Often though, these principles overlap and all we need to do is recognise and reinforce these areas.
1. Never take a good and honest person for granted. Like ever!
2. Having a partner in your life doesn’t complete you
3. Show understanding and treat everyone with respect
4. Never stop asking questions and always doubt everything
5. Never regret mistakes and don’t fear to make new ones
6. Honesty is crucial
7. It’s okay to be emotional
8. Good grades don’t guarantee success or prove smartness
9. It’s okay to apologize when you are wrong
10. Social justice for a better society
11. Responsibility is crucial
12. The importance of sharing knowledge with others
13. Model good values
14. Use everyday experiences as a springboard for conversation
15. Share your personal experiences
16. Hold your children accountable for their mistakes
17. Don’t let your children take the easy way out of challenges
18. Involve your children in encouraging and helping others
19. Monitor television viewing and Internet use
20. Applaud good behavior
Teach your children to boost their awareness and share their knowledge with others. Selfishness represents a self-destructive trait and won’t bring value to society or to your child’s personal growth and development while teaching other people how to improve and accomplish things in life definitely will.
We need to communicate with our children. Talk about what they did right, what they did wrong, how to make better moral decisions, what character traits God wants to see in us, and why you’ve made certain choices in your own life. Granted, it takes time to have these kinds of conversations, but you’ll find the results worth the investment.
