5 Ways To Add Good Values In Your Child

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.

What’s a parent to do? You need to make time to be with your kids and make the time you have with them really count. Have these kinds of conversations with your kids on a regular basis so that the topic of values becomes a completely “normal” one in your household. That way, in the future, if your children do face moral conundrums, they’re going to be more comfortable broaching the subject with you than with their peers. If you don’t address these issues with your kids, society will fill in the void.

* Model good values

One of the most important things you can do is set a good example for your children. They learn from seeing how you treat them, overhearing your interactions with others and observing what you do in different situations throughout the day.If you want your children to exhibit values like honesty, self-respect and compassion, then you need to show these qualities yourself. All the teaching in the world can be undone if your children watch you behave in ways that contradict what you’ve said.

* Apologize to your children when you make mistakes

When you fall short with your children, not only do you need to acknowledge your mistake, you also need to tell them you’re sorry. This shows them that you value and respect their thoughts, perspectives and feelings. You’re also modeling an important way to show respect to others, and how to accept responsibility for your mistakes.

* Use everyday experiences as a springboard for conversation

Almost every day something happens that can provide you with an opportunity to teach your children about values. Use these incidents as conversation starters. It could be an incident you hear about in the news, something you or your children do or something you and they observe someone else do. These can make great on-the-spot lessons.

* Share your personal experiences

Most of us can look back at our past and think of a lot of experiences that taught us some valuable lessons. Be willing to share some of those stories with your children, especially those that illustrate how you made choices that were consistent with good values.

* Hold your children accountable for their mistakes

Your children may get themselves into trouble now and then. They might break the neighbor’s window playing baseball, perform poorly on the job and get fired or disobey school rules and receive a detention.You may be tempted to rush in and immediately try to “make things better” for them by going to the principal and asking him to take away the detention, or by paying for the broken window yourself, but don’t. If you rescue your children every time they make a mistake, they won’t take responsibility for their actions. They need to know that bad choices result in unpleasant consequences.