How to teach your child honesty and fairness

Just as children must be taught to tie their shoes, read and write, solve math problems, understand science concepts and events in history, so must they be guided in developing the qualities of character that are valued by their families and by communities in which they live. Honesty means being truthful with ourselves and with others. fairness means acting in a just way and making decisions on basic evidence rather than prejudice. Here are some steps you should follow to cultivate honesty and fairness in your child:

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Be a model of honest relations with others.
2. Discuss with your child what honesty is and is not. Point out, for example, that being honest doesn't mean telling someone you think he looks ugly. Kindness goes along with honesty.
3. Discuss fairness(chances are that your child will bring it up) in different situations, For example, how do we show fairness in our family? what does fairness mean to the community? what were standards of fairness in the past?
4. Talk about how you try to be fair in your life and work. What issues of justice have you wrestled with? Your adolescent will be particularly interested in talking with you about these things.

Tips & Warnings

• To undertsand the importance of being honest and fair, children need to learn that living together in a family, community or even a nation depends on mutual trust.
• There is a big difference between being dishonest, lying or cheating -- and "making things up" as children often do in fantasy play. If children are taught that not telling the truch is "a bad thing" some young children might assume that is also a bad thing to pretend to be a princess or an astronaut. Although you should discourage your child from deliberately lying and cheating you should also let him know that it is fine to role-play and pretend.