AS


Thursday, May 19, 2011

Monkey see, Monkey do.


I thought of writing this note having being exposed to some very ‘bratty kids’ whilst we were on Vesak break. You know that old mantra “attitudes are better caught then taught” I feel this is 100 percent correct. Our kids are watching and copying everything we do, even stuff we may not be aware of. As parents we have the greatest influence over our child’s attitude (aka character) than anything or anyone else. We should truly introspect and find out which of our qualities are mirrored in our kids.

I am a single parent and I find that society today loves to lay blame on people like me in similar situations for bringing up kids with bad temperaments, hang-ups or bad attitudes. Whilst there may be instances where this may hold true, this is the exception and not the rule. I saw this for myself this weekend and to be honest I was very happy to note that my son had none of the hang-ups I witnessed with the so-called ‘normal, holistic families’ that were in the rooms next door to us.

I am a firm believer that kids need space and not too much of a strict regime to grow and cultivate their own unique personality or temperament. But it is our job as a parent to stop our kid from being selfish, narrow-minded, noncompliant, and have other bad attitudes that lead to weak character and poor moral intelligence.

If we walk around with our noses up in the air, thinking we are too good for the world or passing judgment on fellow human beings and showing any form of disrespect to them for being less fortunate than we are, then my darling you will soon find junior doing and saying the same things. And let me tell you there is nothing worse than a kid with a bad attitude, before long he/she will find them selves, alienated and alone.

It’s never too late to change bad attitudes. Yes, it may get harder as kids get older and more set in their ways, but that is no excuse. Plenty of older kids make big changes in their attitudes, and yours will be no exception. You have the greatest influence over your child’s attitude (aka character!) than anything or anyone else. So take a closer look at your self, are you passing off a bad attitude to your kids?

If you are a parent consider yourself blessed, not many have the opportunity to be where we are, so please use your powers wisely to develop a younger generation who is more tolerant of fellow human beings.

I would like to leave you with this quote from an article I recently read on the subject of kids with bad attitudes:

“Kids with bad attitude come in all sizes, both genders, all ages, and all cultures. They can be rich or poor; reside in rural, urban, or suburban areas; attend private or public school; have multiple siblings or be only children; live with a single parent or with both. The diversity of their lives seems to have little bearing on whether they acquire the dreaded ailment, although there is one factor that clearly is the greatest predictor for getting the disease: kids were allowed to develop the bad attitude without opposition, and because there was no resistance or reaction, these bad attitudes flourished and grew” - Courtesy Family Education: 

No comments:

Post a Comment