When you were a child, who would you credit for teaching you about your morals? Your parents or guardians? Maybe your surroundings also shaped your values and beliefs? The people closest to us help develop our worldview and morality.
As such, parents may want to ensure that their children are shown morality at a young age by a trusted individual. So, you may get started by learning how to boost your mental health in preparation for teaching your child.
Websites such as BetterHelp can provide thoughtful advice and insight for both parents and children alike. Managing morality is an important part of mental health: decision-making, who we surround ourselves with, and the goals we have are all influenced by our morals.
The following examples of talking to your children about morality can be used as tools to help you get started.
Narrate Personal Experiences
Stories you had when you were a kid that you thought were silly could prove to be a good way to pass valuable stories onto your kid. Children emulate their parents’ behavior, so if you have a good story to share, then your kids may take after you.
Additionally, stories where you made a mistake but learned a good lesson from it, are good for your kids to hear, if you feel comfortable telling them.
You can show your children that it is possible to learn from failure while letting them know that you will always be there for them if they need help solving an issue or lamenting over a poor choice they made.
Help Them Tell Right From Wrong
Your personal stories could help your children learn right from wrong as well.
Parents may not always have an active role in their kids’ lives, especially if you are swamped with work. However, despite your potentially hectic schedule, making time for your kids should always be a priority.
One of the easiest ways to help your children learn right from wrong is to do so through your own behavior. Practice what you preach; if you want your children to understand why it’s wrong to call people names, for instance, refrain from doing so yourself.
Use moments where children do something right or wrong as teachable moments. If your child misbehaves, use it as an opportunity to address just why the behavior is undesirable.
Teach Them To Think About Others
By teaching them how to tell right from wrong and sharing your personal stories, you may help your children learn how to think about others. You can, for instance, try helping your kids consider another person’s views if they want to do something that could hurt someone else’s feelings.
Adjusting and Compromising
Another important lesson is to teach your children that they cannot get everything they want all the time. Sometimes, they may need to compromise, either with their friends or with you.
Compromising values is difficult, and your children may not understand the idea right away. Think back to when you first learned to compromise for other people’s sake. It may have taken you some time before you got a handle on the idea.
So, take your time and be patient with your children as they learn more about adjusting themselves so they can better live a satisfactory life. Present compromise as a natural and inevitable part of social life, not something to dread or avoid.
Clarifying Their Values
Lastly, try to promote your values by being there for your children. Try not to overanalyze every one of their actions; instead, allow them to take the morals you teach them and shape them into their own.
7 Things Parents Are Recommended To Teach Their Children
Marie Miguel has been a writing and research expert for nearly a decade, covering a variety of health-related topics. Currently, she is contributing to the expansion and growth of a free online mental health resource with BetterHelp.com. With an interest and dedication to addressing stigmas associated with mental health, she continues to specifically target subjects related to anxiety and depression.
