Morals

We all want to be ethical and moralistic. We all strive for that. We all fail at various points. With every value, all of us are on a learning curve. Some phases of life or situations in life or circumstances or free will choices or fears make us step away from the ideal, ethical or moral.

All of us want our children to learn to have ethics and morals and values. The usual way of teaching these things is through conversation and stories, imparting words and thoughts. This method is not the most effective one especially when, for whatever reason, our behaviour doesn’t follow suit (even if justifiable in the context).

The most effective way of teaching a child is through modelling.

Let’s understand that instilling values and ethics in our child is a long process and living by them is a lifelong process for our child as it is for us. Notice how much we struggle with this process well into our adulthood, and we even understand its importance now.

Let’s not focus on moralistic story telling or moralistic lecturing. Let’s focus on modelling it for our children. Let’s be more and more empathetic and compassionate to our children when it comes to morals and ethics and values. Let’s help them along that learning curve instead of calling them out or criticising them for slipping.

Activity:

What are the values which you struggle with?

Can you see its reflection in your child?

What are the values which you have imbibed? Can you see where your child struggles with respect to them? How can you help your child without labelling them or judging them?