By Theodora AJEGWU
Moral and value education establishes a broad framework for ethical living. It enables children identify and differentiate right and wrong. It instills values, promotes empathy, fosters problem solving skills, critical thinking and most importantly nurtures children into the acquisition and development of a consciousness for right and ethical living.
Parents today must stay mindful of their unique advantaged position to shape the character of their children and the children around them. Parents have an important role of providing the foundation of morally acceptable set of behaviours from their children; this can be done most simply by modelling positive behaviour constantly. Parents must demonstrate the values they desire to imprint in the children such as kindness, integrity, respect, fairness, empathy amongst others. To consolidate this character development; parents must set clear character and value expectations and closely enforce that with clear boundaries and consequences.
The societal landscape of what is and what isn’t acceptable social behaviour, morally upright and ethical living continues to be influenced by the many changing tides and times hence parents today face an even more herculean task to ensure the moral and value development of their children. We as a people we cannot ignore the importance of rightly given moral and value education to our society and its overall peaceful cohesion.
Instilling moral and value education in children helps them develop into responsible and compassionate adults. It facilitates the development of respect for humanity, enhances self worth, promotes independent critical thinking and gives them a positive outlook to life thus empowering them as individuals possessing a strong sense of character and an overall love for life long learning.
A solid foundation of moral and value education and development facilitates adaptability and resilience to position our children as well-grounded adult individuals able to lead successful lives across the communities they find themselves.
Children with sufficient well-grounded moral, value education and development become stable citizens locally and globally. Thus, the more we are able to raise wholesome socially and morally grounded children the more we are able to not only foster individual personal development and transformation but we are also able to enhance society and sustain a healthy community life and living irrespective of social strata.
The dynamics of parenting today is complex hence limiting effective moral education and development. Parents today face so many challenges such as but not limited to economic hardships, unhealed traumas from their own personal experiences, limited exposure to relevant child care and development information and off course the challenge of their own personal choices, values and personality.
There is also the influence of peer pressure, community and neighbourhood as well as the obvious influence of technology. Technology while such a helpful modern day essential has brought into our lives; screens and content across TV and social media that gives access to so much information leaving parents struggling with an ever-changing tide of trends to keep up with and consequently posing a challenge to effective parenting today with a constant shift in the lines as to what is acceptable and what is not.
To effectively instil and ensure moral, value education and development parents must first be role models living and leading by the moral values they seek to see their children live out.
Parents today must use clear, simple words and expressions to foster open conversations that encourage talks about what is acceptable values within the family, home and community at large. Parents today must seek out ways to actively engage in the social activities of the children as this provides opportunities for behavioural observation and hands on correction and redirection. It also facilitates opportunities to set boundaries and highlight consequences.
By these simple yet direct interactions the parents in today’s world can also help their children develop skills such as empathy, emotional regulation, understanding and all the other non-Google downloadable human life skills.
As we seek cultural integration because of the diverse cultural influences of our time; we must build value-based tolerance and inclusivity by this ensuring our children become adults who understand that perceptions and expressions may differ but values can align us giving us a chance to sustain peaceful community cohesion.
We as parents must seek a balance between values that seem traditional yet still relevant for society; it’s growth and peace. We must seek ways to manage the many influences of the new age which contradict the values that preserve our humanity. We must show our children that while academic and social success is important these must be gotten ethically and we must seek to preserve the innocence of humanity in their childhood years as this serves as life’s foundation.
So, here’s what you can do today beloved parent;
- Establish daily routines that encourage the positive values; it’s practice and it’s integration as a life skill.
- Encourage independent thinking while providing a guiding framework for making
- Enhance self confidence and self worth as these will leave the children empowered to resist peer pressure and or societal pressure.
- Create hands on opportunities to teach values through chores, duties, responsibilities, schedules etc. Create opportunities for children to practice decision making amidst moral dilemmas.
To create a lasting life impact of strong moral foundation in our communities we must ensure as parents to actively play our role Inspite of today’s many challenges. Be proactive! nurture the character of your child. Our children are the gift we give our society for generations.
>>>the writer is an educationist with over two decades of experience. Theodora is director of school at Eldoray Children’s house a child care and recreational centre. She also works with Individuals, families and organisations as a legacy development coach and a transformational life guide. She serves the African Women in Leadership Organisation (AWLO) as a representative of the executive council and the regional chairperson south east region Nigeria. She can be reached via [email protected] +234 (0) 8062802783
