“If respect is something we want to receive from others in our lives, it’s something we must also learn to give,” says the authors of 365 Ways to Help Your Children Grow . One way to teach your kids how to respect others is by respecting privacy. To do so you will need to establish the house rules concerning privacy and each person’s right to privacy. This is sometimes hard when your kids are little. Tyler still refuses to understand why I need private time— even something as simple as alone time in the bathroom.
Some rules you may want to establish include: knocking on a door before you enter, asking before borrowing something, never opening other people’s mail and no eavesdropping.
Treating others with respect is something kids learn by watching how other adults treat each other, especially how their parents treat others. We have to be very careful how we interact and talk to others because our kids are watching– and listening. When we are out in the community, the way we talk to the cashier at the local grocery, the waiter or waitress at out favorite restaurant or whoever we interact with, our kids are taking notes. One thing I have to watch is the way I talk about other drivers. I can get pretty impatient with someone who is either driving too slow or just the opposite. But before I call the other driver a jerk, I have to bear in mind that Tyler is listening to me. And waiting to see how I am going to respond. The same is true when I receive poor service. Sometimes I have to step back and think, “maybe this person had a really bad day,” and instead of my adding to their problems by being cross with them, sometimes it’s best to just blow it off.
Finally, the authors talked about being, quiet in public places. I have to admit, I never thought about being quiet as being respectful. To teach your kids how to be quiet in public places requires some rehearsing or role playing. The authors suggest that if you have plans soon to visit the doctor, library, have dinner in a nice restaurant, etc., an ideal way to teach respect is to set up a pretend stage and have everyone act out the event, using appropriate voices. It may take a few role-playing sessions but eventually your kids will get the hang of it.
See also:
Teaching Your Kids Resourcefulness
Building Self-esteem in Your Children
How Well Does Your Family Communicate