Talking Ethics With Your Children

Children watch their parents. Children often model their own behavior based on what they see their parents do.

Very recently a woman faced an ethical dilemma and didn't know what to do. Her daughter is in high school and has a friend. The friend's mom lied about their address so that her daughter could attend the school. The first woman was very torn on what to do because she did not want her own daughter to accidentally spill the beans or to be asked to lie.

These situations happen daily. Our children are faced with ethical decisions they need to make. They will base their decisions on what has been modeled to them.

Talking Ethics With Your Children

Discuss ethics with your child from the time they are young. Ask questions that cause them to think about what they might do in a given situation. Often there are no right or wrong answers, but there is a lot of room for discussion.

Ask your young child what he/she would do if they saw another child take away a toy from a child playing with that toy. Would they step in? Would they tell an adult? Would they ignore the situation completely?

Ask your school age child what he/she would do if they saw another student copying their friend's paper. This might be a test or it might be homework. Would they turn in the cheater? Would they say something to the cheater? Would they mind their own business?

Ask your high schooler what they would do if they knew someone had been drinking and that person wanted to then drive. Or what would they do if they knew a friend was sneaking out at night behind their parents' back?

These are all questions of ethics. Different families will find answers to these questions in different places.

I believe it is so important to role play like this over the years so that when faced with ethical decisions your child has a base for making these types of decisions.

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