Effective Ways to Teach Your Child Responsibility
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
Responsibility. As a parent, career person and partner, it seems as though your plate is so chock-full of it that it’s become second nature to you! Yet have you stopped to consider that when it comes to your child, he or she doesn’t learn about it – rather, your son or daughter has to be taught it?
If you have young children, it may be difficult to picture them handling responsibility like tweens, teens and adults – yet this is exactly the age where you should be instilling such values so that responsibility doesn’t become a dirty word; rather it will become an instinctive behavior for life! So what are some of the best methods for teaching your child about the importance of responsibility? Read on to find out!
First, it’s important to let your child know that by being responsible with chores, homework, etc., they’re actually helping out the family as a whole. Children love belonging to a group or unit, and if you stress how important your son or daughter’s task is – even if it’s just helping you dry the dishes or picking up dirty laundry off of the bedroom floor – your child will see the bigger picture of what responsibility’s all about: that other people are depending on him or her to perform a task in a certain way. Get your child involved in daily household activities that are age-appropriate in order to highlight this point; for example, have an older child wash your car or ask your toddler to help you pick up any toys that are laying about. Make sure to give your child lots of praise for a job well done!
Another effective way to teach responsibility to your child is to create a chore chart. This is very similar to the charts that are used in schools, where teachers place gold stars next to a student’s name for a right answer or great grade; yet this chart should detail each child’s chore and when it should be completed. Have incentives for when your child gets a chore done; for example, instead of gold stars, you can create a chart around a points system, where a certain number of points will get your child rewards like a small toy, a trip to the movie theater or a favorite movie. This positive reinforcement will soon teach your child to view responsible behavior as second-nature!
If you have older children, another great way to teach them responsibility is to get them a credit card. Mind you, you don’t have to get one with a $1,000 limit! Rather, pick a student card with a very low limit, like $250 – $500. Stress to your child that the card is for emergency purchases only, and can only be used if your child has enough money to pay it off by the time the bill is due. Remember, this method should only be used with teenagers; yet it sets your child up for financial responsibility, which is crucial to learn in his or her early years. For younger children, an allowance is typically an appropriate way to teach financial responsibility.
Essentially, teaching responsibility to your children boils down to making them feel as though their contribution matters around the household – and it does! So next time your child completes a chore or picks up after themselves, heap lots of praise on him or her; they’ll not only learn all about responsibility, but they’ll feel so great about themselves that they’ll want to help out around the house all the time!
