Is your Child displaying signs of responsibility or Entitlement? When a child has a sense of entitlement, it generally means they feel they have the right to do what they wish without accountability to anyone. A child with a sense of responsibility is a child who is accountable for their actions. They do not think they have the right to behave or misbehave without there being consequences.
Teaching your child to be responsible is not a bad thing, no matter their age. This will enhance their sense of self-worth and self-respect because they were given a responsibility and they are upholding those responsibilities.
This will also discourage the development of a sense of entitlement where the child will expect everything to do done for them or given to them. This decreases the child’s feelings of gratitude and increases their sense of entitlement, in that they deserve all that they are given. When we over-pamper, over-indulge, are over protective and over extend ourselves in the marathon to keep our child happy, they are being taught that everything will come to them and they need to invest little to get what they want.
To be healthy, functioning adults, children need to learn to do things for themselves. They need to develop a work ethic and a sense of delayed gratification. They should understand that the amount of work they do will result in either getting what they want or falling short.
It is ok for our children to be disappointed and to be told no. They should develop the decision-making skills, learn resilience and learn from their mistakes. So how can you do this? Here are some helpful tips to raise a responsible child:
Chores
Chores teach responsibility and the child has a task to complete. You can choose chores that are age appropriate.
Accountable for behavior
Expected behaviors should be clearly explained so the child understands your expectations. There should be suitable positive and negative consequences for their good or bad behavior. Consequences help them to understand the repercussions of their behavior.
Do not do everything for the child
It is understandable that you wish to provide for your child and give them a higher standard of living than you may have experienced.
And this is commendable. But in doing so, you should not deter the experiences that a child should have e.g. learning to pack their clothing or washing dishes. A child will take into their adulthood what foundation skills they learn at home. Remember that, so if a child has not been taught responsibility skills, are they supposed to automatically develop these at school when they have projects? The child will have difficulties adjusting to the demands of the social world because they will expect the same treatment wherever they go.
We are creating leaders of tomorrow, so we should all do our part.
