As a child, I couldn’t wait to be an adult. I was always
longing for the freedom and independence that came with adulthood. As an adult in her late twenties, I now know that adulthood isn’t
easy and with freedom and independence comes tons of responsibilities. I know
even better that having the moral responsibility of your child is more
difficult. How do parents and teachers ensure that children are responsible for
their own work?
Start early: Responsibility is not a trait that can
be achieved overnight. Have age appropriate responsibility assigned to children.
It could be tasks ranging from filling
one’s own water bottle to arranging one’s own wardrobe. Do not accept any
excuses for not being able to complete work.
When it comes to school, children should be well made aware
that homework and assignments are their own responsibilities and parents are only
to supervise and help them in doing it by themselves.
Clean up own mess: Teach children to be kind. Do not
let your child be a bully. Make them apologize should the need arise. And never
allow them to play the blame game.
Make them feel important: During my childhood, my
parents would ask me to babysit my younger sister, feed our dog etc. Not only
did such jobs made me feel important, but I also felt very responsible. Little
did I know back then that by doing this my parents were instilling life skills
and family values in me.
Make it fun: Never make any work sound like a
punishment unless you are actually grounding them for bad behavior. Motivate
them, play with them, and help them along the way. You could also throw in a
little reward for a job well done once in a while but never ever make it
a regular practice.
Do not over do: A huge mistake which parents and
teachers tend to make is to force their
values upon children. Give them time, do not rush it.
Be a role model yourself:
I mentioned earlier that having the moral responsibility of your
child is difficult. Difficult? Yes. Burden? No. Let’s not forget that we can’t
teach our children to be responsible of their work unless we are a model of
responsible individual ourselves. Never
crib for having to do a certain job. It is important that your kids see
responsibility as a wonderful character trait and not as a burden.
