How to Raise a Respectful Child

As well as raising your child to be independent, resilient, and caring, it’s also important that they are taught manners and respect.  They are the most basic form of kindness and something that we all deserve to be treated with. It comes from empathy – a consideration for others and their feelings. Helping your child to understand what’s appropriate and inappropriate will really help to elevate their social skills. This post shares ways in which you can help your child in this area.

Questioning Behaviour

There’s not much to teach children about respect. It’s about treating others the way that you would like to be treated. You can help them with this by questioning their behaviour and encouraging them to put themselves in others’ shoes.  

Manners

It’s common courtesy to use manners and this is the easiest way to show respect. They are easily taught, and you can begin by using them with your child and then reminding them to use theirs in social situations. We automatically use them, but you will be surprised to see the kind of difference words like please, thank you and sorry make in a conversation. 

Be Respectful to Your Child

It goes without saying that your child will follow the example that you set for them. You are their biggest role model as their parent. This starts with how you treat them. If you’re disrespectful towards them e.g., you speak to them rudely, ignore them, use disrespectful language and do not show consideration for their own personal boundaries, it is likely that they will act in the same way.

Condemn Bad Behaviour

The same goes for the examples that you see set around your child. Children pick up from what they see around them. If you’re not in a position to condone bad behaviour that your child sees, you can use it as an opportunity to talk to them about why it’s wrong to behave in a particular way.