Part of your role as a parent is to teach your child about right and wrong and make sure they learn the importance of being kind and respectful. It is important that you be their role model and show them good values in action, as this has the power to influence their behaviour and encourages them to develop their own set of values. To learn more about the ways you can help your child learn about moral values, take a look at the following advice from an independent school in London.
A good place to start is to introduce the concept of empathy. If your child can empathise with other people then other values such as kindness and respect will fall into place more easily. Try to encourage your child to see the world from someone else’s point of view. You can start by talking about your own emotions with your child, explaining how you feel in certain situations to show your child that other people feel the same emotions as they do. Books and films are useful tools to introduce empathy as the child will read about characters dealing with conflicts and adversity that they may never have experienced personally, giving them insight into the lives and emotions of others.
Teaching respect should not only include respecting elders or authority but respecting all people regardless of the differences which make them unique. You should show your child that it is important to treat people as equals by modelling this behaviour yourself. Your child will notice how you address people, so it is important to set a good example. Respect for rules is also very important and your child is more likely to follow rules if they understand why they are in place. You can explain to them that certain rules are in place to keep them safe, such as not running by a pool or not touching pans on the stove. By providing an explanation for the rules you set and explaining the consequences that could happen if they don’t follow them, your child will learn why following rules is so important.