ETHICS - Teaching your children right from wrong


0 - 1 YEAR
To get your child started on a good start to life, give your baby all the love and cuddles you can. This will make them feel secure in their environment and give them a healthy start to life. They are too young at this stage to grasp the concept of right from wrong.

1 - 2 YEARS
Prevention is better than cure at this stage. If you do not want your child to play with something, then put it out of your reach or take precautions to secure the items. A simple ‘no’ is all that is required at this stage or / and a diversionary tactic. Their attention spam is simply to short to for any more discipline, nor do they understand the concept of consequences.

2 - 4 YEARS
Lead by example. Children are starting to learn by imitation. Be consistent and firm when disciplining your child but not harsh. Children of this age do not have the ability to understand things like sharing and truth but will thrive on consistency.

4 - 6 YEARS
Now is the age that children start to understand right from wrong and is the time to be reinforcing positive behaviour. Give lots of praise when children have been well behaved. You will need to continue to lead by example so that you show your children what is expectable behaviourand what is not. They are now at an age that they will respond well to explanations and reasoning and are also keen to please and be liked. Continue to nurture children in a loving environment and be consistent with your decisions. Children feel more secure in an environment where they know the boundaries and limitations.

6 - 8 YEARS
Children now understand the basics when it comes to fairness, how to treat others and the need to follow rules. They are socially aware at this age and are more confident individuals when rules and limitations are consistently up held. Children at this age will strive in a secure and nurturing environment.

8 - 12 YEARS
Now children will start to question you and try to argue the point with you. They have become more independent and will try to find ways of getting ‘their own way’. Remain firm on matters that are important but more flexible on ones that are not as important. You will need to keep leading by example as they will have a lot of outside influences on them now. Reinforcement of good behaviour is still very important, as well as reinforcing their responsibilities to the people surrounding them.

12 - 19 YEARS
The teenage years are a time of mixed emotions where your child is developing and understanding their own ‘identity’ They will question almost everything! This is normal and is a part of them learning who they are, and what they believe in, however if you have instilled in them good values in the earlier years , they will most likely keep these values. We as parents must try hard to weather the storms and keep lines of communications open with our teenagers. Keep the home environment as supportive as possible and try not to worry about everything to much. Even though they will question us about everything they will also look to their peers for support and back up.