How Can We Help Children Learn about Character?
Children learn about strong character when parents and other adults in
their daily lives
set a nice
example through their own
behavior and actions,
set and communicate high standards and clear expectations,
coach them on how to be responsible and kind, and
make use of
literature to reinforce the values of strong character.
Set a Good Example
We are always teaching our children something by our words and our actions.
They learn from seeing. They learn from hearing and from overhearing. They
learn from us, from each other, from other adults in the community and by themselves.
Children share the values of their parents about the most important things in life. Our priorities and principles and our examples of effective behavior may
teach our children to take the high path when other roads look tempting.
Remember that children do not learn the values that generate up strong character simply by being told about them. They learn by seeing the all the people around them
act on and uphold those values in their daily lives.
In our daily lives, we can show our children that we respect others. We can show them our compassion and concern when others are suffering, and our own
self-discipline, courage and honesty as we generate difficult decisions.
How we conduct our everyday activities may show our children that we always try to do our best to serve our families, communities and country.
The way that we view funds
and material goods also might
mold our childrens character. If we see our self-assessment of value and the value of others in terms of cars,
homes, furniture, nice clothes and other possessions,our children are likely to develop these attitudes as
well. Of course, it is important to meet our childrens needs, but it is also important to help them
understand the difference between their needs and their desire. The expensive jacket that your child has to have may be OK--if you can afford it.
Finally, we need to be consistent in upholding the values we want our children to respect and not
present them with conflicting values. We might
tell our children that cheating is wrong, for example, yet brag to a neighbor about avoiding paying taxes. We
can say that rudeness to others is unacceptable, yet laugh when we see that behavior on a most acclaimed TV
show.
