Lead by Example

You cannot tell a child, “do as I say, not as I do”, and expect these words to make a lasting impression. What will make an impression and form their behaviors are the things you do and say in their presence.

How you treat your children, family, friends, and acquaintances will be the basis of how they learn to interact with others. The foundation that is laid out before them at a very young age will determine what kind of adolescent, and adult, they will turn out to be.

If a child is bullied at home it will have a ripple effect. This behavior will eventually be mirrored as they interact with their peers in the classroom or on the playground. Having no power at home, they will exert their aggression on others as it has been done to them.

This conduct can come in the form of physical or emotional abuse. At a minimum it will be name calling or mocking someone to show their “dominance”; trying to induce others to do the same. Worst case scenario is using physical abuse against a classmate. Either way, this is not the environment any of us want our children exposed to.

Regardless of our personal feelings or beliefs, at the core of every human is the desire to be a good person. It is inconceivable that anyone is born with the predilection to be angry and filled with hate for others, or that they wish to impart harm to others with their words or actions.

With our unlimited capacity to do what is honorable and be kind to others, it is extremely difficult to understand how the world so easily slipped into a spiraling tornado of negativity. How did harsh words and mean spirited behavior become commonplace? Is it any wonder that our children are emulating what they see on a daily basis?

We can turn this around, and we should want to turn it around. We are responsible for our actions and words, and we are also responsible for our children’s behavior. What they say and do is deeply connected to what they observe in our behavior.

Our children are a precious gift and we have a responsibility to set an example for them. If we have the capacity to be honorable and kind, shouldn’t this be how we conduct ourselves at all times? By setting this kind of example, we will set the stage for them to become the kind of adolescents and adults we all would want to know.