| |
 |
|
Talking About Character
|
It
sounds simple enough, but sometimes we just don’t know where to start -
we don’t know what issues may be important to our kids. Here are some topics and conversation starters for you to
try. Be sure to discuss your
child’s feelings if they were to find themselves dealing with any of
these topics, as well as feelings from your own experiences.
|
|
FRIENDSHIPS |
ROLE
MODELS |
TELLING
THE TRUTH |
MAKING
GOOD DECISIONS |
STEALING |
CHEATING |
MISTAKES |
| FRIENDSHIPS - Tell your children about some of your current and past
friendships. Explain how
these relationships were and are important to you.
Listen as they tell you about theirs.
Discuss the importance of being friends with brothers and sisters,
as well as other family members. What
other people would make good friends?
What qualities should you look for in a friend?
back to top
|
| ROLE
MODELS -
It is important that kids have people to look up to that promote a healthy
life-style and that make good decisions.
Who are some good role models for your children? (Parents,
grandparents, athletes, police officers, firemen, doctors) Who were your
role models while growing up? Why?
What did you learn from them?
|
| TELLING
THE TRUTH -
In the early grades, it is important to help students understand the
difference between reality and make-believe.
Talk about the difference between TV and everyday life or between
movies and the news. As your
children get older, help them to understand that telling the truth makes
it easier for others to accept them.
People want to be friends with other honest people.
back to top
|
| MAKING
GOOD DECISIONS - Why is it important to make good, well thought-out
decisions? Talk about some of the choices you have made in the past - at
work, at home, or otherwise. What
influenced those decisions and how did they turn out?
For older children, stress the importance of being responsible for
their own actions. Discuss
when it is appropriate to take credit and to take blame for choices they
have made. What are the good
and bad consequences of the decisions they must make?
Take time to focus on the positive things your children do. Tell them how you appreciate their good decisions.
back to top
|
| STEALING
- Most kids probably know that stealing is wrong, but do they fully
understand what stealing is? Help
younger students understand that it is stealing even if they take
something that doesn’t belong to them with the intention of
returning it later. How would
they feel if something of importance to them was taken without their
permission? Discuss why
different belongings may be important to someone. Maybe it is something
that is very expensive or something that person had for a very long time
or maybe it is extremely sentimental.
Use some of the child’s own belongings as an example to
illustrate this point. For
older children, explain stealing as a crime and the consequences involved.
back to top
|
| CHEATING
- The long range consequences of cheating are very difficult for many
children to understand. In
the short term, students see people who cheat as getting away with
something - either getting a better grade on a test or winning a game.
Explain the long term effects of cheating. What are they? Cheating
is dishonest and it tricks people. Do
people trust another person who is dishonest or who is always playing
tricks? Do students learn as
much when they cheat or do they get better at a game if they don’t play
by the rules? Who is really
hurt when a person cheats?
back to top
|
| MISTAKES -
Everyone makes mistakes, even grown-ups, parents and teachers, but often
children don’t understand that. Help
your children to understand that it is okay to make mistakes as long as
they can learn from that mistake. Talk
to them about mistakes you have made, and for older children, mistakes
they have made as well. How
did they happen? What did you
learn? |