Inculcating Respect in children
In order to live harmoniously in modern society, a person must have respect. We are all taught to respect other people and be polite in their company, which is a basic social standard and while we may have the very best of intentions, your own behaviour can encourage disrespectfulness in your child. Ask any child expert and they’ll tell you that children pay far more attention to what you do than what you say, and should you scold a waitress or speak your mind where you shouldn’t, you are, in fact, being disrespectful. For those who are having a problem with their child’s behaviour, here are some effective strategies to encourage your child to be respectful.
Lead By Example
When you are talking to your child, do so with respect and this will go a long way to helping your child to understand what respectfulness looks like. If the time is nearing for day care and you live in Australia, contact the Guardian Early Learning Group, who has centres in many Australian cities and then you can be sure that your child will be in an environment where respect is nourished and will learn the important social values during their informative years.
Respect is Earned
We’ve all heard this very true saying and it applies in every case, even with mother and child, where the mum will have to earn the respect of the child and the only way to do this is to act in a respectful way. It is a good idea to openly discuss respect, which might take the form of politeness at the dinner table. When you are out and about with your child, point out to him or her instances where respect is given. They analyse various aspects of what constitutes respect and then imbibe the same.
Realistic Consequences
Whenever your child is disrespectful, there must be consequences, but it should not be too harsh. Grounding your child for a week for saying something he or she shouldn’t, is too harsh and the child is likely to be resentful. Explain why you are taking away a privilege at the time as this also helps the child to accept the situation and always try to be calm when applying a specific punishment.
Avoid Being Emotional
Emotion clouds our judgements, all it will do is to make the situation worse, so try to approach the subject in a calm and collected manner, which is always the best policy. If a child sees the parents become emotional when things go wrong, he or she will see this as an acceptable model. And as we know, children pay more attention to what we do than what we say. They will be ready to throw their emotional tantrums as well.
Have an Open Mind to Everything
There are many benefits to having an open mind, not least that your child will adopt a similar approach. Children need to understand that every person has their own opinion and this goes a long way towards creating respect. If a person is narrow-minded, they will not readily accept other people’s opinions and ideas and as a parent, you should ensure that you approach things with an open mind.
By ensuring that you set out the ground rules clearly and remaining calm, your child will realise the many benefits of being respectful, which will give them the motivation to continue with polite and socially acceptable behaviour.
Happy Parenting!
XoXo, Jhilmil
