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Talking About Character
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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. |
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| 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? |
| 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?
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| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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? |
| 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? |
