Raising respectful children in this age
Princess Oji, a 15 years old girl was tired and worn out after a long walk from the bus stop. Finally, she arrived at the street where the school she would be writing her GCE exams was located.
Before she got to the venue, she had approached a group of people seated in a restaurant. Without paying any courtesy, she asked: “Where is No 20 Fashino street, or Fashino Secondary School, can anyone help me with the direction to the place here?”
To her very surprise, no one responded, rather someone sighed, while others looked at her with disdain.
With frustration, Princess walked away angry wondering what really went wrong. Princess is like many other teenagers today who don’t understand simple morals. They don’t have a good understanding of what it means to respect elders.
There is no gain saying that respect today is gradually eroding in our country and this can be attributed the moral upbringing of the children who are not properly taught those values and morals which will help them get to the top, no matter how inconsequential they may appear.
Raising a family in a society that is fast-paced and ever changing can make it confusing to know just which values to teach your children. As a general rule, it’s up to you to teach your children what to believe, and how they should live their lives. But when it comes to teaching and instilling moral values, I’d like to pass on a few values to teach your children from a young age. These are simple and common everyday values that are quickly fading from our younger generation.
One of the most important values to teach your children is respect. Jordin Keim, who had worked in several day care facilities said over the years, she had come across children who have no respect for authority at all. It’s exasperating to the teacher and to the parent when they arrive to pick up their kids. She recommends that by teaching your kids respect; you are doing the world, yourself, and your child a favour. “Life will go much easier for them with a little respect under their hat,” she added.
Respect, Obedience, good manners, politeness and friendliness amongst others are virtues that every parent should uphold and pass it on to their children. There are many ways to go about this, but following are some good ideas to start with.
Reading books together can be one way parents monitor what their children read. Parents are also to be selective on the kind of movies and videos their children watch. The Centre for Child Health, Behaviour and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute recently did a study in which one group of children watched only shows that promoted good moral values while a second group of children continued to watch cartoons that contained violent, aggressive behaviour. It was found that the group of children who has watched more “pro-social” TV shows was noticeably less aggressive, more respectful and found it easier to get along with others than the group of children who continued to watch shows that contained or promoted violence and other immoral behaviour.
Other ways could be spending quality time with the children talking about moral values in an informal way and getting children involved in activities that help them to learn good moral values. Volunteer opportunities that are age appropriate for children can help them to learn the moral values of giving, tolerance and responsibility.
The future is will be brighter and better with children, who are not intelligent and smart but also children who uphold our cultural values and morals.
IFEOMA OKEKE