From the perspective of many mothers, boys can be very unique creatures. There are so many important traits to teach them, but undoubtedly, one of the most important is respect. If we raise a respectful child they will become a respectful adult. So what are the things we need to do as a priority when they are young?
Prioritize Equality
There may come a time in your child’s life when there becomes a division of sorts, especially between boys and girls. It’s something we’ve all heard as kids, but as grown-ups, we start to realize that the divisions and therefore the stereotypes between men and women are rooted in childhood.
We can do something about this now by prioritizing equality and getting rid of the antiquated notions that men only do certain things and women do other things, because it’s just not true. If your child comes home saying that other people in their class are talking about these divisions, even if the girls are saying it, it’s important to start hammering the point home about equality and the fact that there have been countless examples of people who have bucked the trend.There are many examples of famous women in history for kids to get inspiration from, such as Ada Lovelace who was, in effect, the world’s first computer geek, a trait that was solely a male endeavor!
Talk About Consent
Consent is such an important lesson, and if your son has a younger sister that he pushes around, it’s so important to start talking about the importance of consent. And if somebody says no, that means no. It’s also important to talk about silence being also a no. In addition, you should talk about the importance of who can touch their body.
When we start to talk about respect for other people, especially those of the opposite sex, we also need to look at ourselves and recognize if we grew up without understanding what consent actually was. We need to seek out opportunities for our son to connect with more positive role models. When we look at inspirational female figures as role models and hammer home the point of equality, this can help to create a far more emotionally intelligent child.
Do Not Force
It’s easy for us to say that something they’ve said should not be done, but we also need to remember that as parents, we should be guiding our children to make more effective choices. If we force our children to think a certain way, even if it is for the sake of equality, they may very well kick against us. After all, it’s what children do!
Instead, think about instigating discussion. This allows your child to start thinking more for themselves. This is an incredibly important thing that we all need to remember. Telling our children something is right and something is wrong is not going to promote that all-important notion of discussion. Instead, we have to remember that as parents, we can be guilty of being forceful or shutting something down, especially when we are tired. But if we want to stop raising respectful children that grow into respectful adults, we’ve got to turn the mirror onto ourselves.
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