Why We Teach Children Kindness
The book On Becoming Childwise
has 15 principles, and I am focusing today on Principle #4: Instill morality into a child and his behavior will fall into place.
has 15 principles, and I am focusing today on Principle #4: Instill morality into a child and his behavior will fall into place.
Let's dig right in!
Chapter Four of On Becoming Childwise says "We know you want to instill honesty, empathy, compassion, kindness, gentleness, respect, honor, and self-control in your children. This is not a wish list from never-never land. It is a reasonable goal for your children. But they are not born with these virtues. They're cultivated. It is the duty of the parents to put character into their children and not sit back and hope good character emerges naturally. It won't."
says "We know you want to instill honesty, empathy, compassion, kindness, gentleness, respect, honor, and self-control in your children. This is not a wish list from never-never land. It is a reasonable goal for your children. But they are not born with these virtues. They're cultivated. It is the duty of the parents to put character into their children and not sit back and hope good character emerges naturally. It won't."
Well then. That's a lot of pressure, right? It makes absolute sense. We have to teach our children how to hold a spoon and wipe their bottoms (we have only successfully mastered one of these in our household), so OF COURSE, we need to teach them how to be kind. It is a learned behavior. So how do we teach it?
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