Children are not born with certain personality traits; they usually develop over time with the right guidance from parents and other influential people. With that said, if you want your child to demonstrate kindness and compassion, you will have to help them. Here are some tips from an independent school in Abingdon.
Teach Your Child to Behave Respectfully
Having good manners goes beyond saying please and thank you; it’s all about treating people with respect. Remind your child to behave respectfully towards others by speaking politely, offering a helping hand, regarding their thoughts and opinions, and just being kind.
Show them how to respect others by being respectful to them. Just because they’re little, it doesn’t mean they don’t deserve an apology when you’ve done something wrong. Compromise with them and practise successful conflict resolution so that they can learn from you and how you handle challenging situations.
Help Your Child Empathise with Others
Talk to your child about how other people might be feeling in certain situations so that they can learn to empathise. Point out your elderly neighbour who is struggling to walk or talk about a friend or relative who has been unwell.
The idea is to help your child understand what other people might be going through. This, in turn, will help your child understand the importance of compassion and treating all people with kindness.
Promote Positivity
Provide your child with a positive home environment by demonstrating enthusiasm and optimism. If they are surrounded by negativity all the time, it’s only natural that this negativity will manifest as bad behaviour, such as insecurities, selfishness, and rudeness.
So, be sure to talk about the future in a positive way, help your child become more confident in their own abilities, and make sure they always have something to be happy about. Explore gratitude with them, to force them to think about how fortunate they are. If your child is content, they will be more inclined to help others and demonstrate compassion.
