Are You Raising One of the Next Generation of Hoodlums?
TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN INTEGRITY
Integrity means to be of sound moral character. It means to do the right thing whether anyone is looking or not. In other words, it means being incorruptible. It also means our word is our bond. We are committed to our promise, even if something better does come along. When we demonstrate integrity, we have reached a high level of maturity.
A high level of integrity means that we fulfill our obligations to the best of our ability as and when promised. This is what we want to teach our children. We want them to know and to take seriously their promises.
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” Oftentimes we talk about this idea of integrity without grasping what it truly means. But integrity is not a single action. It is a mind-set that needs to developed. Integrity is born in the mind and heart of a person. It comes from who you really are as a man or woman, boy or girl, and what you really believe about right and wrong, good and evil. And integrity is exhibited not in just one act of goodness, but in your whole character.
Those of us who are responsible for raising children are responsible for instilling within our children the importance of integrity, and the only way we can do this is to be people of integrity ourselves. When you speak to your children, they need to be able to trust that you will be true to your word. With a mind-set of integrity established, you will find that you’ll be much more likely to speak truth and follow through with what you’ve said. This echoes the reality that we need to be careful to let our “yes” be yes and our “no” be no.
Often parents are heard to complain that their son (or daughter) lies to them. When this happens, parents need to look at themselves and truthfully examine their interactions with their children. The vast majority of children are intelligent, and they know if you lie to them; if you promise them things that you don’t follow through on. So if you want to raise a child who values integrity, you must demonstrate that integrity is important to you. How does one do that? Remember: what is important to you is what becomes important to your child. You cannot teach integrity if you have none.
Among other things, you can teach integrity by doing the following:
- Drive the speed
- Never ask your children to lie for
- Apologize when you wrong your
- When you send your child into a store with more money than he/she needs to buy a particular item, when the child comes out, see if he/she offers the
- Deal with the child
- Never tolerate even the smallest
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