8 Ways You Can Teach the Importance of Moral Values to Kids

Importance of Moral Values in Kids

As a parent, moral values are important. You have a lot of responsibilities for the future of this life you’ve brought into the earth. Not just physical but every aspect of your child’s spiritual, social, psychological and emotional state matters. You have to ensure they grow to be a good citizen who contributes positively to the community and knows the importance of moral values.

The common misconception is to think it’s too early to start learning the importance of family values or moral values, which are crucial in the later stages of their life. In reality, it’s very important to instil moral values for kids early on. Teaching them the essential skills needed for life will make the transition to adulthood much more natural and smoother. The growing years are when you can leave your children with an indelible imprint that will remain for life. Such teachable moments are an excellent opportunity to instil moral values for kids, ethical values, and principles.  

Just like how a child has developmental and physical milestones to reach like crawling, walking, there are also psychological, emotional, and social milestones. Learning the importance of moral values early on can have a profound and positive impact on your child and they’re able to integrate into society as an adult.   

Morality is a skill that allows people to see what is right and wrong in someone’s actions and thoughts. Teaching children this at an early age will influence their morals as they grow.  

8 Tips on How to Teach Your Kid the Importance of Moral Values

1. Lessons on good manners

From the day a child is born, it’s important to inculcate the importance of moral values. Good manners are something that helps them in their daily life to interact with people and it also shapes them into considerate, loving people.    

You can start from day one. When you interact with your child introduce common phrases like “please” and “thank you” which you can continue to use as they grow up.

Throughout their time, a child observes your actions and moves and learns from them. The more you model good manners, the more they will make use of it in the times to come.  

2. Respect and self-respect

One of the most important moral values for kids is respect and self-respect.

They need to make it a point not to criticise people who have different opinions. It’s important to recognise and understand the sentiments of other people and respect their choices and views, even if they’re not the same. If you find the need to disagree, do so politely.

With self-respect, your child will understand when to know when to say no. It will not pressure them when they have to do something they don’t want to. And honouring someone else’s ‘no’ validates that others’ needs are important as well. Healthy boundaries result from moral values for kids and respect for themselves and are essential for a healthy life. 

3. A strong work ethic

The key to success in life is a strong work ethic. Work ethics makes a person trustworthy. Teaching kids to do everyday chores, help cook meals, attend to the needs of their grandparents, and volunteer in the school or at an animal shelter are moral values examples to instil a good work ethic in children. Later on, this will reflect in how they respect their customers, colleagues, and bosses.  

4. Hard work

Learning at an early age that success is 99 per cent perspiration and 1 per cent inspiration is one of the most important moral values for kids. Kids of today who are lazy and don’t value hard work focus on things like cutting corners or cheating. This attitude and thinking must change.

You know if you put in the hard work, the result is all the most gratifying! As a parent, you must teach your child to see hard work as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. This will encourage them to work towards their goals, happily.   

5. Be generous and helpful

‘Actions speak louder than words’ is one of the best ways to teach being generous and helpful. It’s one of the moral value examples that are best taught by action and not by words.

As a parent, if you adopt such gestures, the chances of your child picking up on this habit are higher. It’s easy, you just have to set a good example for them and they’ll follow suit. Soon enough, they’ll recognise the importance of being helpful and generous.

6. Honesty

It’s crucial to teach young ones that cheating and dishonesty will get them nowhere in the future. While short-term techniques like cheating on a test have incredible benefits, eventually it will catch up to them and pose negative consequences in the long run, like being unable to pass an entrance exam. The good old saying ‘honesty is the best policy’ holds tremendous value.

7. Lending a helping hand to others

All it takes to brighten up someone’s day is to lend a helping hand. Whether it’s folding the laundry or putting away the dishes or helping a neighbour with a bag of groceries. One of the moral values for kids is to encourage your child to help whenever the opportunity arises. Through this, they also learn other core values like empathy, compassion, and putting the needs of others before their own.    

8. To live life with happiness and positivity

Life is full of surprises. It’s a mix of ups and downs and whatever it may be, it’s all a way for rich learning experiences. When things shift from a bed of roses and get dark and gloomy, encourage your children to focus on the positives. Remind them that they have enough food, shelter, a loving family and to count their blessings. Adopt a positive mindset and they’ll instantly see how the little things bring happiness. They’ll also develop the resilience to cope with challenges and emerge stronger and wiser than before. 

Final Thoughts

While all the above points can seem like a daunting task, remember, children are born ready to pick up and learn new things and habits.

If you regularly encourage your child to keep up with such moral values, you’ll see that your young one is putting in 100% effort. All they need is a push to understand how vital their present efforts are for their future selves. While it’s true children are far from imagining their future, but the brain is a powerful, wondrous machine. It’s within reach to teach your child anything, including the importance of moral values for kids.

Also, Read

What selfies are doing to self-esteem?

How to teach moral values to kids?

Moral development in Children-Stages and What should you do.