Where is your child learning respect? Is it at school or is it at home – or both? I would hope that it is learnt in both environments although I believe it should start at home and essentially from us. If we want our children to be respectful, we have to be. But what does that ‘respect’ look like?
Respect is about calling each other by our proper names or nick names if they don’t offend – Mum, Dad, John, Jill, Mumps, Poppa. It is about talking to each other instead of shouting, asking others if you can use/have something of theirs in a polite way, it is about talking nicely to each other in the way that you would like to be talked to, listening to each other and about thinking about other people’s needs. Many people see respect the same way and will categorise manners in that – saying please and thank you, opening doors for others who are coming through after them and looking after someone’s possessions as they would their own.
We need to model that behaviour and teach our children ‘to do as we do’. We have to live our values and if one of those values is respect, then we have got to behave respectfully when they are watching us and when they are not.
How do you model ‘respect’ in your household?
Great topic to address. Respect counts for everything! But I think people get confused by what it is…they think it’s to do with firmness or how much authority you have perhaps. But it isn’t, I believe it’s really very simple – it’s to do with care. Respecting something is to care for it in a way that makes the receiver want to reciprocate which then makes it mutual! Respect is a two way thing. And it definitely begins at home!
Ross thank you for your comment. I think some people think it is all about manners too but it more than that I agree. It is also about saying it is okay for you to think and fell like that and I am not going to judge you for being you.
Respect absolutely must be taught both at home and at school. As Ross stated it is best taught by our actions, children want to model after the people they respect and look up too. A great way to teach respect is through reading to and with your children every day. You can pick books that have a clear message about respect, kindness and caring. Take turns reading and discuss what is happening in the stories. Not only will your children learn about respect, you will be laying a foundation of love and trust that can help foster on going parent child communication in the tween and teen years.
Jed, I agree completely and thank you for commenting. I also think tv shows can do that as well particularly the ones aimed at younger children. There always seems to be a message in a show somewhere re. manners, consideration etc.