Raising Ethical and Moral Children

Of all the roles in parenting, no part is as important as raising children with good values. As parents, we may hope our children are good athletes, achieve in school, are artistically talented, or good looking, but nothing is as important as their moral behavior. If our children are not good, honest, self-disciplined, kind, hard-working people, then their humanity is diminished. Parents need to respect children and require respect in return. Discipline must be respectful and model the restraint, gentleness, and fairness we expect of our children. As children get older, we need to ask for and consider their opinions when setting rules and consequences. These past ten years might as well go down in history as the “Decade of Moral Erosion.” Wall Street “leaders,” politicians, celebrities, and even the clergy and their parade of unethical acts were continual news stories. The Internet became scarier;TV featured more casual sex and vulgarity; political and corporate scandals became raunchier and more public; video games became even cruder; music lyrics were ruder; movies were often steamier and more violent. And if that isn’t enough, data shows that those ethical infractions are impacting the kids. Their social scene is even meaner and more aggressive. Bullying has not only intensified but is also no longer limited to playgrounds. Cyberbullying is the hot new craze. According to Good Kids, Tough Choices, “A Boys and Girls Club of America survey of 46,000 teens confirmed by their own reports that peer pressure is fiercer. Drinking, shoplifting, cheating, lying, stealing, and sexual promiscuity have not only increased but are also hitting our kids at younger ages” (Rushworth, 2010). These really are scary times to raise kids. We need to nurture a solid moral core that will guide our kids to stand up for their beliefs and act right even without us. Children can learn the core virtues and skills of strong character and moral courage even when they are toddlers.
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References: McGowan, D. (2007). Parenting beyond belief: on raising ethical, caring kids without religion Rushworth, K. (2010). Good kids, tough choices: how parents can help their children do the right thing Sears, DR. (2000, December 03). Morals and manners. Retrieved from http://www.askdrsears.com/html/6/t120100.asp