As a parent, we must teach the importance of “Responsible behaviour” to our kids and future generation. But when and How?

Children of the age of 6 months can begin to understand the signs of empathy. It’s important for kids and loved ones to be sensitized as soon as possible towards the basic characteristics of responsible behaviour for proud success in their lives.

What is Responsibility?

Responsibility is a life skill to make good and ethical choices, and be accountable for your actions. Whereas, responsible behaviour is the outcome of five basic but essential elements—honesty, compassion/respect, fairness, accountability, and courage.

Ready to raise a Responsible kid? How?

Assign Age-Appropriate Tasks

You are the best judge to observe the calibre of your child. Assign the appropriate task that he/she can do easily. Be clear with your instructions, tell him/her what the objective/task is, and hint your expectations accordingly. It can be a simple request to “pack your bag” or “wash your hands before eating”. It can be periodical or conditional and may involve several steps.

Giving your child daily chores that require little effort, but must be achievable for the respective age, can increase his/her sense of independence, awareness and accountability, its variable.

Develop Interest- Create Fun Activities for Children

It is advisable to explain the reason for expected actions in simple terms. For example, if you’re asking him/her to water the plants, start him/her off during gardening. Tell the child the importance of plants, their existence and their needs.

Don’t force but develop interest, you should not spend more than a few minutes showing your child how to do something, and it may be too complicated for him at this age. Start with small tasks.

Discuss what it means and how it helps to:

• Yourself and your child
• The family
• His/her friends
• The community
• The country
• All people in the world/Humanity
• Our planet and our environment

Avoid “if’s”

We understand the short attention span of adolescent children, you can start to teach them the method or procedure to do tasks/chores having fun. They’ll understand when you say, “Yes, I want to take you to the park! But We need to clear up first.”

Don’t be bossy, use the “when-then” rule. For example, “When you will finish the homework, then you can play with friends”. Please explain the reason to make them understand the importance of the action. It is extremely important to use the word “should”, rather than “if” because it gives the impression of dominance and condition. Make chores fun with accountability and responsibility.

Model Responsibility- Develop Good Characteristics

Show your child what responsibility is by taking good care of your things with your personal, social, public and environmental variables.

Name, fame and money don’t matter without a good character. Teach them the behavioural characteristics of respondents. Being accountable for one’s actions and following various rules, laws, and conduct codes. SHOW respect, love, empathy, compassion and kindness because responsible citizens treat others fairly. They became trustworthy, honour their commitments, and are environmentally conscious.

Appreciate Efforts, Not Results

Practice makes a man perfect, so focus on the effort that she/he’s making, even if he doesn’t get it quite well. Don’t criticise but appreciate. It will increase his/her confidence and desire to support.

Phrase your request gently and encouragingly: “Well done for working so hard on getting dressed all by yourself. You’re looking great. Why don’t you try this belt, let’s see?” Your support is important to them. Be realistic, they are children after all. Don’t get impatient when they don’t work accordingly, try to remind them calmly. Be slow in assigning tasks to remember the “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. You can treat them occasionally for their efforts.

You’re Gesture Matters

There are certain tips you can do to support the idea of being a responsible person and make your child feel good:

• “Talk” with your children about responsibility. Tell them that responsibility isn’t just doing chores, it’s following through on commitments, being answerable for their actions, being reliable and trustworthy by using good choices or judgment, taking care of themselves and others, and not procrastinating the duties or tasks. Let them know that these are signs they are growing up and can be trusted across the world.

• “Observe” your children making responsible choices express how much that means to you.

• Try to “forget” past failures at being responsible journey (though it’s a lifelong journey) and teach them to “move on” with the lesson, so that they can learn from their mistakes and act responsibly in future actions.

A Parent’s support is an important factor for a child, the parent becomes impatient and rude sometimes during building a good character in our children. Every child is unique, don’t forget to be respectful and humble with your children. Express your love always.