Tips for Parents: Responsibility
Do your children seem less responsible
than you were as a child? If your answer is YES, this Tips for Parents will
help give you ideas for teaching responsibility.
What is responsibility?
According to Webster’s dictionary, being
responsible “implies holding a special duty or trust.” Someone who is
responsible is dependable, trustworthy, and accountable. Having
responsible children means teaching them so that they become competent and
confident to know what’s right and then to do what is right.
Are responsible children born?
Absolutely not. Children develop a
sense of responsibility through a variety of parent provided experiences.
It’s only human that as adults we try to please others. The “pleasing
others” behavior pattern actually begins early in life. Parents can start
teaching responsibility by letting their children know that responsible
behavior pleases them.
Imitating the Behavior of Parents
Children learn by watching others. If children
see adults acting in a certain way, they think the behavior is normal and often
behave in the same way. Children, for example, who grow up watching adults take
advantage of other people are likely to imitate the same behavior. A child who
grows up watching parents who respect the law is likely to become a person who
also respects the law.
How Parents Can Teach Responsibility:
- Help your
children learn to do things for themselves. When children have a feeling
of independence, they have more confidence to try new things and expand
their capabilities.
- Allow
your children to take care of themselves as much as possible. Let them
choose which clothes to wear each morning, when to do their homework
(within reason), and make other basic decisions about their own lives.
- Teach
your children to respect others. The best way to teach respect for others
is by example. If you respect other people, regardless of who they are or
where they come from, your children will follow in your footsteps.
Send The Right Messages
We send messages about responsibility
every day. Here are some tips on the kinds of messages to send:
- Praise
efforts to become responsible. This is the most important thing you
can do. It
focuses your child’s attention on the right issues.
- Praise
improvement. This emphasizes that your child is on the right track,
providing motivation for responsible behavior in the future.
- Don’t
help too much. If you give your children too much help, they can’t
take credit for what goes right. They may begin to believe that you
don’t think they can be responsible.
How can I help my children be motivated
in school?
Talk about school regularly. You
can’t talk too much about how important school is. Not only does talking
show your children that school is important, it also gives them a chance to
express themselves.
Ask what interests them, about problems
they may be facing, what they are learning in class, and school-related
happenings.
Display your children’s
achievements. Ask your children to pick two or three of their best school
papers each week—such as drawings, math homework, or writing assignments—and
post them on the refrigerator, in the bedroom, or in the bathroom. You can make
a scrapbook of schoolwork that makes your child feel especially proud. Be sure
to look together through the scrapbook so you can both remember these
accomplishments.
Point out your children’s progress. As
your child learns and improves in school, compare recent papers to papers from
the past. Show your child that he or she is making progress and has reason to
feel proud. It’s especially important to keep children encouraged at times when
they may be frustrated. Remembering a past success can be a very important
motivator for the future.
Taken from: http://www.thelearningcommunity.us/resources-by-format/tips-for-parents/responsibility.aspx
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