Children

OUR CHILDREN ARE WATCHING

by Jan Bradley
06/07/22
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I have been giving some thought to children and young adults who display bad manners, worse language and a severe lack of patriotism. I have come to certain conclusions and thought I'd share. Children learn how to behave from watching how their parents behave and imitating what they see.

If you want your child to be polite and mannerly, saying "Yes, ma'am," "No, sir," "Please" and "Thank you" just model those phrases yourself. If you want your child to grow up to open doors for people, give up their seats to the elderly, pregnant and infirm, do it yourself where they can see. Then you will be gratified by your child's teacher telling you that your child is the most polite child they have ever seen.

If you don't want your child to use profanity, vulgarity or blasphemy in their speech, don't use that kind of language yourself. There's really no need for such language and simply alerts listeners that your vocabulary is extremely limited and you have no discretion or respect for others when you speak. If your child grows up hearing good language from you, they will use the kind of language that they hear you use.

If you want your child to be patriotic and appreciate the sacrifice the members of our military and first responders have made for them, model that kind of patriotism and gratitude where they can see you. If a child sees his parents salute the flag, honor veterans and act respectfully with police, he will grow up to be an honorable, respectful person who will never take a knee except in prayer, or get arrested for disrespecting a police officer at a traffic stop.

Our children are watching us every second to see how to be men and women, so it's up to us to make sure they are seeing and hearing the right things in us, especially if we name the Name of Jesus.