Children can be a handful and difficult. As a parent, you need to be their guiding light and “molder” for them to become good persons in the future. One important value that we should teach our children is honesty. We all have lied at some point of our lives and even our children will eventually too, but there are ways for you to encourage them to become more honest. Here are some ways you could follow to achieve that.
1. Listen to your child
Whatever the circumstance (good or bad), you should always listen to you child. Listen to what he or she has to say. Since you are the adult, you have to adjust and understand why kids do things their way. If they lied, ask them why they did it and listen to their explanation if it’s acceptable or not. Then you decide after on what to do with the situation.
2. Praise your child’s honesty
If your child tells the truth, praise him or her if you can. When he commits a mistake and admits it, acknowledge his or her honesty. If your child made a noteworthy action through honesty, you can reward him or her in order to encourage your child more. If your child did something bad but told the truth, you can punish or ground him on your own terms but still don’t forget to recognize or call attention his honesty.
3. Don’t overreact
When your child lies, you should not lose your cool right ahead once you discover he or she is lying. We should chill and make sure they do not get taunted. We should not scare our kids in telling the truth through scolding them. It is important that we maintain the positive connection between parent and child especially as they are growing.
4. Be a good model to your child
We can always discipline our child on our own way or on how we want them to behave. They can also learn values in school but we have to take note that it is much more significant to let them learn these values at home. As parents, we need to understand that our children learn by watching our actions and on how we treat them and other people. They are observant and they will mimic what they see, hear and feel. It is your responsibility to be a role model and show honesty as well in order for your child to become honest too.