Respect is something that everyone desires across the globe, and most individuals would accord respect to their friends, and sometimes, people they don’t know. You will even find related articles about respect on reputable sites such as research paper services.
However, the same can’t be said of parents when relating to their children. Many adopt a top-down mentality where they expect respect from kids but don’t accord the same to their kids.
Respect, as with almost everything, gets easy to teach through actions rather than words. Kids learn best through what they see rather than what you tell them. How you talk to them and interact with them matters in shaping their views about respect for the present and future.
So what is respect? It is the act of showing care or giving attention to someone. Alternatively, it can also imply the admiration you accord someone because of the impact he or she has on you.
How One Can Teach Kids Respect
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You need to remain calm and stop overreacting in instances where you deem your child to have overstepped the line and become disrespectful. It’s essential to be respectful to teach kids respect. Still, in most instances, adults try to show respect by proving disrespectful by proving insensitive to what happens around and about kids.
Staying calm and collected in such instances can help you take control by contextualizing if your child is getting disrespectful or it’s a mere case of misunderstanding before meting out actions that they will perceive as lacking in empathy and respect.
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You also need to identify the source of disrespect and concentrate on teaching the kids problem-solving options. Many times kids can say or act in a manner that you can consider disrespectful, though they often don’t mean their actions but rather manifest such in a bid to protect themselves.
It is, therefore, crucial for parents to understand why they acted the way they did and try to solve the problem that caused the “disrespectful act.” Teaching them about the need to address their feelings of hurt in a better way, can help them develop the right mindset and calmness necessary to deal with any situation that presents itself in the future in a respectful way.
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Model respect by making sure you prove respectful to your kids first. It would help if you exhibited respect for you to teach your kids respect. Treat kids as people, similar to how you treat other grownups, and they will also respond in kind.
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Employ the use of firm but the kind discipline to educate and not punish your kids. Positive discipline can go a long way in teaching kids respect as opposed to punitive discipline. A harsh or menacing tone when trying to discipline a child can only impart cruelty when they deal with individuals who make mistakes in the future. Remember, however, that kind, and firm discipline doesn’t qualify as permissiveness.
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Show respect so that you can earn the same from your kids. Earn your kid’s respect by showing them respect in all circumstances. Don’t demand respect from them because of what you do for their sake as they know less. After all, the parents decided to have kids and not vice versa. You can earn their respect by showing them and teaching them about respect the right way.
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Learn to apologize when you make mistakes. Most parents will find themselves shouting down their kids, especially in instances where they are at their wit’s end. However, you need to calm down and apologize to your kid about shouting so that they can understand that shouting doesn’t qualify as correct, even in instances where you get upset. Lead by example and take responsibility for your lack of respect.
Conclusion
It is important to treat kids concerning avoid getting disrespected as a result as they grow and develop. Remember, compliance never equates to respect, and all you need from your kid is genuine respect. Employing the above guidelines in teaching your kids respect will ensure that they grow up appreciating the discipline of respect and respecting other people. After all, respect starts from deep within before it manifests outwardly.
