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How Technology Is Changing How We Treat moral story for kids
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In order to raise kids to become morally responsible human beings, parents must put in a lot of effort. It is advisable to use effective discipline as a moral lesson to ensure that the child recognizes his mistakes on his own and tries to rectify them at the earliest given opportunity. The child must be taught to think from all possible perspectives. For instance, ask the child to place himself in the shoes of the other person before coming to a conclusion about the behavior of the other person. This will help the child to become more sensitive to how his actions or behavior impacts other people.
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Children tend to learn easily through practical experiences than through reading books. So, encourage your child to perform good deeds. Show the positive impact that his moral behavior had on the recipient. This will give immense satisfaction to the kid and encourage him to continue with his moral behavior. Parents must emphasize the importance of the virtues of moral behavior at every possible opportunity to remind their kids that moral behavior is not over if it is done once, but that it needs to be practiced throughout the life.
Teach your child to treat others in the same manner as he would like to be treated. Parents must be very firm in their stance on moral values. Set certain standards and teach the child to follow the same principles until the principles are completely imbibed into the blood of the child and irrespective of your presence or absence, your child behaves in a morally responsible manner.
Most importantly, appreciate and acknowledge the morally correct actions or behavior of your child. This acts as an incentive and encourages the child to continue with the same morally responsible behavior.
In working with young people, both as a clinical psychologist and as a volunteer, I have noticed that many of our young people are lacking direction to their lives and have no objectives, goals, purpose, or sense of self. Nor do they have a strong set of personal values or a strong belief system.
In short, they're lacking what I call character. Our character is an integral part of who we are and having a strong set of values helps us define our character.
Strong character is not instinctive. It's learned and it's never too early to begin talking with our young people about personal values and helping them define and develop their own code of moral conduct.
As society's moral guidelines become increasingly more ambiguous, it's essential that we all have our basic code of ethics well crystallized in our own minds.
Just as bodybuilding builds strong physical muscle through "sets" and "reps," we also need to help our kids build good moral muscle. And we can do this by dialoguing with our kids about choices. Moral Choices.
Life is all about choices. The choices we make determine not only our character but also the quality of our life. As they say, practice makes perfect, and one way we can help our children is to help them practice or rehearse what they would do in different situations before they are actually confronted by those situations in real life.
Our ultimate objective is for our children to make their own choices--good choices. And we can help them do this if we can get them THINKING and TALKING about moral issues.
Kids love to talk and we just have to give them the opportunity to do so.
Here are a few ideas and questions to facilitate some great discussions:
"Honor" is an old-fashioned word. What does it mean and has it gone out of style? (I have found that some kids have no clue what "honor" or "reputation" really means).
We all need a "moral compass." What does this mean to you? Do you have a "moral compass?" If so, how would you describe it? (I have found that kids like the concept of a "moral compass" and can relate quite easily to this question).
How do you test the choices that you make? One good test is the test of time. How will you feel about this choice a month from now? A year from now? (You might be amazed at how dramatically our kids' concept of time differs from our own).
Is your speech a reflection of your character? Is your speech different in the locker room than it is at home or at church? Do you have more than one language--a different language for different occasions? (This question usually provokes a lot of discussion and disagreement between kids about what's acceptable and what's not acceptable).
What does "being cool" really mean to you? (This one can stimulate some really wonderful discussions with a great deal of varied and spontaneous feedback).
How do you decide whether something is right or wrong? Is it just a question of whether anyone else will get hurt? (This one will really get kids thinking and hopefully talking).
How important is winning? Does it really matter how we win? (This one can provoke some great and sometimes unexpected personal revelations by the kids).
Do you think that these days just about everyone cheats to get what they want? (You may or may not be surprised by just how prevalent cheating is and by how many kids admit to doing it).
How much is "trust" worth? If it's a choice between missing out on a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity or dishonestly exploiting a situation to your own personal advantage, how would you decide what to do? (The kids themselves will come up with dozens of hypothetical situations for this one).
Do you think it's ever okay to break a promise? (This can lead into some great discussions about our responsibility to other people when they are in trouble--e.g. when they are using drugs, hiding an eating disorder, etc.).
Would you choose character bedtime story for kids over conformity? (This one will stimulate some great discussions about peer pressure).
These are just a few of the conversation-starters I use when I visit classes to talk to students about moral choices. The important thing is to get our kids thinking and talking. Remember that strong moral character does not come instinctively. It is learned.
Hopefully, these discussions about moral choices will help our young people develop a sense of direction and purpose to their lives which will result in more rewarding and more fulfilling experiences not only for them but also for those whose lives may be touched by their choices and their actions.
One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is help in developing a strong sense of self, so that they will not be unduly influenced by peer pressure. To stand firm for what they believe, they will need strong character, and we can help them develop strong character by helping them define their values and code of ethics when they are young, so that regardless of what others around them do and say, they can act according to their own
conscience--even if sometimes this may mean standing alone.
Having a strong value system helps us to have a strong sense of self, so that we can say: This is who I am and this is what I believe.
And the stronger their character, the better for all of us!