Everyone would love to have children who genuinely have the best interest of the people around them at heart. The thing is that social responsibility is not something that is being promoted enough, unfortunately, and unless you are yourself a well-rounded person, you will have a hard time raising children that will be assets to society. You will have to start with yourself first. You will then need to look at your children’s habits, sources of entertainment, and their environment so you can make proper changes. Let’s take a look at how parents can raise more well-rounded, socially responsible children.
Meals on Wheels is a wonderful way to involve the whole family in an outreach opportunity.
Valorize Social Action
Social action should be part of your life and you should try to find a charity in your area that will allow you to volunteer whenever you like.
You can bring your children with you, but do not force them. The first time you go, make sure that you do not put any responsibilities on their shoulders and let them just hang out. They will start interacting with the people there and might be tempted to join you after a while. Or you could have them take a tour of the facility. This will allow you to gauge their level of interest and see if this is somewhere you could come back with them often.
Consider Adoption or Foster Parenting
Welcoming a child from outside their circle can be a great way to show your child the value of giving back. They’ll see how the child was when they first came and how they developed through your help, love, and attention, and might want to do the same thing for a child in need when they grow up.
You can either go with adoption or foster parenting, but foster parenting is always better if it’s your first time around. It’s also a much more flexible arrangement. If you’d like to learn more about foster parenting and the requirements to be accepted as a foster parent, fosterplus.co.uk is a great resource you can check out.
Raise their Awareness of Certain Causes
Given her interest in culinary arts, my teen prefers to serve the community through food related outreach opportunities to help combat food insecurity.
You should observe your child’s habits and tastes and start thinking of causes that might interest them. Once you’ve found a few things, encourage them to watch a few videos surrounding that cause with them. Start with short videos so they won’t get bored and let them explore the issue on their own. If you picked right, then you can expect your child to come around and talk to you about the issues. This is when you can start exploring more concrete ways to help.
Start with the People Around them
Caroling at a senior center is one of our favorite Christmas time outreach opportunities. Even though we lost my father this year, we still continued on the tradition with friends this holiday season.
You don’t have to do active charity work to give back. If you notice that one of your children has selfish tendencies, teach them how important it is to share with their other siblings. Make sure that they have constant contact with other relatives as well, especially grandparents.
Encourage them to go spend days with them and help them around with chores. Most children love their grandparents and just being in a helping role will naturally push them to be more helpful in the future.
These are all things that you can do to raise children that will be socially responsible citizens with great human qualities. Remember that it all starts with you and that you must be consistent with your efforts if you want genuine results.
