Kids are going to do what they see and hear. If people treat them with love and respect, they will also treat others with kindness and respect. Parents and teachers can set the groundwork for kids to develop respect for others. The secret? Modeling respect for them. Here are some tips on how to teach kids respect.
5 Ways To Model Respect At Home
There are research-backed strategies for parents who want to help their children learn to respect people, animals, property and themselves. Here are some we find important to have at hand:
- Model respect yourself: Children will imitate what they observe. They will behave accordingly when they observe parents, teachers, and other adults acting in the same manner. Act with respect at all times, whether you’re speaking to your partner, a store employee, or the family dog since your child is watching and it’s the correct thing to do.
- Don’t use fear as a way to control: It used to be believed that scaring kids into listening is the best method to teach respect. Yet, yelling, slapping, and other severe punishments are now known to be ineffective in raising respectful children, according to child development specialists. The child will learn that a bigger person may strike and yell at a little person if they want to. That is teaching fear rather than respect.
- Use appropriate vocabulary: Look for opportunities to use language like “respectful” and “disrespectful” to put your child’s experiences in context. When these issues arise in daily life, you can have a conversation with your child about how to respect plants, your own space, the environment, and other people’s preferences. In novels, movies, and other media your family enjoys together, point out instances of respect and disrespect.
- Take notice: Reinforce positive conduct for the following time when you “catch” your child doing the right thing. Greet them with joy and point out how respectful they are behaving when we see a child utilizing respectful words and respectable behaviors.
- Coregulation of big feelings: It’s normal to feel upset, irritated, and angry right away when you see your kid having a temper tantrum. You can practice maintaining calm and co-regulating your emotions together. This could involve taking a deep breath, going for a walk, or separating yourself from your partner; work on creating a vocabulary of feelings with them so they can express themselves. It’s easier to act respectfully and kindly when everyone is calm, both adults and children.
Teaching Respect in the Classroom
The emphasis on respect for living beings is integrated into our curriculum and permeates how our teachers engage with the students. With music, role-playing, and storytelling, we teach kids about respect for others. Our instructors give students a clear definition of respect that they can understand. We show how to respect the objects and tools we use in our programs as well. This focus on respect sets the tone for our programs and is woven into subsequent lessons on respect, caring, generosity, and cooperation.
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