This is just some great common sense parenting advise that will increase the odds of you raising a nice or at least decent human being. It’s not always easy to live up to the examples on this list, but it’s important to try. We are all human after all, but we can still strive to emulate the very best of our humanity.
1. Set a good example.
When you gossip about others, talk about friends behind their backs, use bad language, and make fun of other people, things like this can leave an imprint on a child who pays very close attention to everything you do and say. If you want your child to be a better person, you must lead by example.
2. Encourage them to be kind and praise them when they do!
Sometimes just a suggestion to offer to share a toy or a snack with another child can encourage them. It can be as simple as teaching your kids to talk to the lonely kids on the playground. Setting these traits in children can have a profound impact on their personalities, and set them on the path to do great things in the world.
3. A word about compliments, though.
Be very careful not to praise your child’s outward appearance too much. Teaching children humility is just as important as kindness towards others. Instead, teach them to find nice things to say about others and, compliment them on their moral character more so than their appearance. If done early in a child’s development, this could put an emphasis on a how much a child will value more characteristics about themselves and other people.
4. Remember that it’s your job to teach them right from wrong ? nobody else?s.
This just reiterates point one. They are always watching you and will remember your words and actions just as much as any lesson they will learn in school. Because they invest everything into you emotionally. Young? children worship their parents like a religion, it’s in their DNA, even pre-teens and teens value your example and guidance more than they care to admit.
5. Hold them to a higher standard.
It may be easier to dismiss bad behavior and say things like “boys will be boys” or “girls will be girls” when your children says or does something to hurt another child, either physically and/or emotionally. But we must resist this temptation and hold our kids to higher moral standards. They will not like you for it at the time, but in time they may learn to love you for it later in life.
6. Make sure your child understands the inherent worth of every single human being ? and living creature in general, for that matter.
By teaching your children the value of every human being, of every life, this will instill in them not just empathy, but a great confidence that may withstand even the meanest bullying. Using disappointments and unjust experiences as a way to re-enforce a child’s self esteem, instead of buying them things, will give them the kind of toughness and character to get through anything.
These seem like very simple things that most parents already do, but it’s being consistent with your own behavior that will yield the best results. Being a parent means we have to be on stage for our children, show them the best side of us we possibly can, as often as possible. It doesn’t mean we can’t be ourselves, it just means we should strive to be our better selves for their sake.
I credit the inspiration for this list to an article by Leslie Saul written for Yahoo Parenting February 13, 2015
