Rosetta has bestowed one of the highest honors on you today. You have a gift for working with children. You may find that you’re attracted more to a certain age group, or that you help children in a very specific capacity - but you always make sure that the treatment is fair.
The world is changing and children have more of a say than ever before. Parents are basically catering to their child’s every whim. Treating them like little princes and princesses - whether they deserve it or not. And this is understandable - seeing as most parents today grew up in an era where they kept being told they were the saving grace of the future and that their ideas are a bunch of pie-in-the-sky dreams that will never materialize. So they don’t want to stifle their child’s creativity the same way their parents did - which is fair.
But discipline and fair treatment form the cornerstone of good parenting or teaching. And you’re well aware of the fact that a spoiled child is much less likely to reach their full potential. As a result of this you can change the lives of countless children if you share your knowledge on fair treatment.
Well, first off, if you aren’t the parent you do need to respect the parent’s boundaries. Children are like sponges. You don’t even have to be teaching them for them to learn something from you. So the very first thing you need to do while working with children is to address your own behavior. What example are you setting? Are you holding yourself to the same standards as you’re teaching them?
In a child’s mind they are being treated fairly if you abide by the same rules you give them. For example you might tell them their bed-time is at 7 - and your bedtime is at 10. And neither of you are allowed to binge watch netflix before bed ;)
You’d be surprised how much the quality of your own life improves the more you stick to your own rules - but that’s besides the point. You want to show children that the way they are being treated is the way you treat yourself.
If you’re one of those people that let others walk over you - chances are your parents were quite domineering. You likely didn’t get your way very often as a child. And when you did you either had to put up a fight to get it or the event was stolen away from you again pretty quickly.
Watch that you don’t do this with the children you’re teaching right now. Making a positive impression on a child has a lot to do with the level of respect you show them. If you treat them like valid little humans, they’ll treat you like a valid big human. If you tell them their wants and needs are less important than what you think their wants and needs should be - you’re teaching them that their authenticity is something to be ashamed of. And they’ll try their best to be the way you want them to be, but there will be plenty of tears involved.
The best way to make sure that you’re respecting the little ones in your life is to treat yourself with respect. The more authentically you show up, the more authentic they will be.
This is huge for children. They inherently trust everyone. Until that trust is broken they will think you are a superhero. But that’s a big responsibility. We aren’t superheroes, and inevitably we will make mistakes. Luckily children are very forgiving too. But the quality of your apology is going to go a long way towards how fair a child thinks you’re treating them.
You need to be sincere and own up to your mistakes. Don’t try to shift the blame. You are the bigger person, and you need to be honest. You can’t deny your mess, you can’t explain it away - especially not if you’ve hurt a kid. And the biggest thing you need to do is promise to try better - and say exactly how you’re going to try and do that. This will show the child a healthy way of dealing with their mistakes and give them the foundation they need to treat others fairly too.
