Do you see children around behaving disrespectfully to elders? Do you often see kids being unkind to nature & harming plants and animals? Do you feel kids nowadays are ungrateful for plethora of options & opportunities that they get with so much ease? Do you feel the absence of basic values amongst children?
If you think that today’s children are careless, selfish, irresponsible, lack manners & etiquettes, then pause, and rethink. It is time to focus on the ‘Values’ we are imbibing in our children.
Values are like Fingerprints, nobody’s are the same but you leave them over everything you do.
It was a usual evening at park with my kids and while waiting for their turn to get on to the rides (yes, they understand the concept of taking turns & waiting), a barely 9 or 10 year old girl just barged in and hopped on the swing without even giving a glance at the queue and children waiting around. I was taken aback. No, I was not furious, rather I felt sad. For a moment I was concerned about the child- will she grow up as an aggressive and rebellious person? How will she handle competition, dejection and failure?
These are just the tip of the iceberg. It is becoming increasingly clear that the ways we are rearing our children today are not the ways humans are designed to thrive.
We talk so much about leaving a better planet for our kids, but are we working towards leaving better kids (humans) for the planet? What value system are we following and thereby reinforcing in our children? Are we getting too engrossed in working towards meeting the materialistic demands that the core essence of Moral sense is declining?
V for Values
“Values” means what we hold dear, what we value, what gives us happiness. These are core beliefs that guide us on how to conduct our life in a way that is meaningful and satisfying for us.
We need to help children not only know values but develop a deep commitment to values. Values such as fairness, kindness and responsibility for others should be an integral part of a child’s self or identity.
The Decline of our Value System
No parent wants to knowingly raise a spoiled child. But in present times, fast paced lives coupled with nuclear family set up and increased exposure to external factors have brought about a complete change in our outlook at Values & our value system.
Instead of shared care giving by extended family members, as was typical for our species, many children spend their early years in emotionally suboptimal daycare facilities, with little individualized, responsive care. And the result – well, we are just working on auto-mode; we forget that our job is not to raise a “happy” child but one who becomes a caring, responsible, respectful, and independent person who feels and expresses gratitude for what he has.
I vividly recall my grandmother telling me the simplest of the values of ‘Honesty’ in the ‘man with the axe’ story. The re-emphasis of these values was so much at our home that for a long time I actually believed that if you tell a lie, your tongue would turn black!
Today all these stories and age-old tricks of grannies is considered passe’…it’s only in memories or books. The character ethics like integrity, courage, patience have been replaced by quick fixes. Personality skills, public speaking, image building are the order of the day. Not that these are not essential in today’s fast paced competitive life, but these are and will always be secondary.
Don’t blame the Parents alone
Before the last decades, mothers were never alone in raising children, they always had the extended family and friends on a daily basis. The responsibility for child rearing belongs to the whole community in how it sets up neighbourhoods, workplace life, policies that support families and School practices.
So how do we break this downward spiral of Parenting skills
I feel it is much more difficult to be a parent these days because of the commercialisation of childhood and I sympathise with parents, like myself, coping with so many pressures. The parents have got far more to deal with now than they did as a parent 25 years ago.
While Schools are taking on the mantle of providing pupils with a stable upbringing through their own set of teaching standards, there is somebody who has taken up this initiative to bring about a change at large- Blue Orb– a team of young innovators who aim to create an environment that contributes directly to the physical, intellectual and emotional development of young minds.
Blue Orb endeavours to instill values in the minds of children and young adults, which helps them to unleash their potential, and empowers them to mould their lives towards a positive and ethical future.
Their specially designed program focuses on imparting value education through a unique mix of art, culture, music, mythology, storytelling, yoga and certified mind and body techniques. Interesting, isn’t it?
To know more about them, visit their website http://www.blueorb.in/values-for-life/
Their latest initiative #100DeedsOfKindness is all about encouraging children to serve others and be more kind, which will make them more fulfilled and mindful individuals.
The idea behind this initiative is to involve children in small and simple acts of kindness in their homes, neighborhood and communities. They believe that an act of Kindness can change someone’s day, make someone feel loved, inspire goodness and in turn shift the child’s outlook towards life. These ‘Acts’ may involve creating a craft with your child and giving it to someone, feeding a cow, or just smiling and saying hello to people at the supermarket. Isn’t it so simple?
Think you want your child to experience real happiness? Come on and become a part of this drive! Click here to be a part of #100DeedsOfKindness
Go Mommy!