Character Education Can Help Avoid Embarrassment

Article by Francis David

Ever happened to be in a store or restaurant where a child starts misbehaving and he is having a fit or his parents trying to discipline him thus catching everyone’s attention? Throwing tantrums, whining, power struggles and yes, the list is endless. It’s enough to drive every parent crazy. Moreover, those spectators tend to assume that parents are responsible for the child’s bad behavior or character. Almost all of us seeing such a child should have definitely hoped that our own child should never behave as worse as that. It is teenagers or older children who very often receive the brunt of blame for their ill behavior even after their parents who had shaped their behavior and character. Who is to be blamed here? Is it the children who are to some extent capable of choosing their own behavior or is it their parents who are to a great degree have an influence on their character and behavior?

People often fail to question what bad behavior is. Why does this happen. A child whining or creating tantrums can simply be a sign that the parent is not properly attending to the child’s needs and this can lead to an escalation of the misbehaviors and seldom fails to corrects them permanently. They do lack the training, experience, and understanding needed to behave properly in any given circumstance. Good behavior is usually determined by whether it’s socially, culturally or developmentally appropriate. Knowing your child’s expectations at each stage will definitely help you to decide whether his or her behavior is normal or not.

Parents should try different strategies for character education among their wards. And, it should begin when they are calm and the best place to begin is at home, the most secure place to practice proper discipline and character such as timeouts and denial to the likes of toys and treats. As mentioned above, home is the most secure place to start character education as parents won’t receive any negative attention for teaching their children and moreover, children don’t get distracted by the chaotic nature of public places. On the other hand, if a child misbehaves in a public space, he needs to be punished by the parents but only after removing him or her way from the public until proper behavior is observed. And, this is not a task that can be done as easy as it being said. Hence, they must aim to arrange situations where they can teach or punish their misbehaving children by removing them from a public arena. It is also imperative that parents implement age appropriate character education to correct their children’s poor behavior before their children leave their influence and head out to adulthood.

As said above character education should start at home and it should only start from home even though it is included in the teaching curriculum at your child’s school. Character education has a major role to play in molding your child’s future and career. Character education often offers a child, simple, eloquent and even fun filled techniques to manage his or her aggressive behaviors. Character education helps to build self-esteem, resolve conflicts peacefully, encourages diversity tolerance and also practice core values.

So, the next time you see a child throwing tantrums at a store or at a restaurant, think the value of character education and the value that it brings. At least you can impart those values in your child and maybe you yourself can avoid being in an embarrassing situation as the parent of the child at the store.

By: Francis David