Parenting Tips To Raise A Socially Responsible Child

Parenting can be an extremely hard task in the modern world, with both the parents working hard to meet the ends meet and struggling to provide the best amenities and education to their children. However, ensuring that your child attends a good school and gets ample nutrition is not enough, you must also focus on raising a socially responsible child who displays compassion towards others irrespective of their socio-economic backgrounds. The urban lifestyle makes it extremely rare for children to mingle with people from different cultural backgrounds and economic conditions, which may end up providing them a distorted perception of the world. It is your duty as a parent to prevent this from happening and to make your children grateful for what they have and willing to share it with the less fortunate. Here are some of the ways in which you can donate your sweat by making simple changes to your lifestyle and to that of your child, so as to foster social awareness and empathy in your little one.

1. Help Them Distinguish Between Needs and Wants

No age is too young to learn about the distinction between needs and wants. Teach your children that food, water, and clothing are needs but ice-creams, expensive toys etc are wants. Children tend to mimic the behavior of the adults around them, so make sure that they do not see you splurging on wants such as a new car, designer clothes, and restaurant food very frequently. Try to establish some ground rules for purchasing the wants, such as restricting them only to birthdays and festivals. This will make the children realize that everything they desire will not be served to them on a platter, as is the case with most of the world’s population.

2. Make Them Work Hard To Accomplish Their Goals

At a tender age, a child’s goals are usually to get their wants. For example, your child may ask you for a toy car or may want to watch a movie in the theater. Convert these wants into goals that your child has to work hard for. Explain to them that they can’t get whatever they want by simply asking for it. Tell them that nothing in life comes without hard work and assign specific tasks to them which they need to complete before getting their reward. Make your kid aware that there are children around the world who have limited access to even basic needs such as water and food and therefore they should not take what they have for granted but should be thankful for the same and should work hard for all the things want.

3. Make Them Accountable

Children need to understand the value of money and that nothing on the planet comes for free. In order to make them financially responsible from a young age, assign them some chores around the house that will help them earn an allowance. Instead of buying them presents, tell them to save up money from their allowance to purchase the items they desire. This will not only instill a habit of saving in their young minds but will also help them learn about household chores that will, in turn, make them more independent as they grow older. In short, try to ensure that they do not feel “privileged” even if you can afford all that they want, make them contribute to the household to fulfill their wants instead.

These are some of the ways in which you can help your kids become socially responsible and empathetic towards those from different backgrounds.

So make sure to practice what you preach and encourage your children to help those in need instead of spending on their wants, to raise better citizens for the future.