Resources
On Responsibility
Excerpt from Living Values Parent Groups: A
Facilitator Guide
Responsibility - Ideas at Home for Parents of 3-7
Year-Olds
Review the following Responsibility Points from Living
Values Activities for Children, Ages 3-7 so parents can hear
how different aspects of responsibility are explained to
children that age.
- Responsibility is doing my job.
- Responsibility is caring.
- Responsibility is trying my best.
- Responsibility is doing my share of the work.
- Responsibility is taking care of things.
- Responsibility is helping others when they need help.
- Responsibility is being fair.
- Responsibility is helping to make a better world.
Think about when you were little and started to do
things. What made you feel proud of yourself? When have your
children gleamed with pride? What attitude is most productive
in helping children take pride in their achievements?
Allow your little ones to help you with easy household
chores. Have fun showing them how to do things. Set aside 20
minutes when everyone helps "make our house shine." Allow them
to stir food in the kitchen, wipe something down, sweep, help
set the table, etc. Make sure you assign something at which
they will be successful. Note their activity, and praise them
for being so helpful or such a good helper.
Notice when your child is being fair, and affirm that
positive action.
Notice when your child is making an effort at a new
self-care skill and praise him or her. At times this requires
allowing them to do something alone and prompting and
praising, rather than more quickly doing it yourself.
Verbalize what they did and that they're being responsible,
taking care of themselves.
Set up age-appropriate regular chores or responsibilities
for the children. Monitor initially so they begin to feel
proud of themselves as you watch them accomplishing the task.
After a while, decrease praise for doing the task and praise
them for remembering and taking responsibility for the
task.
Excerpt from Living Values Activities for
Children Ages 8-14:
Responsibility Lessons
Lesson:
Trust Walk
Play a song as the students enter. Introduce the
unit on the value of responsibility by asking the students
what responsibility means. Discuss the meaning of the song
just played.
Say: "Today, we will play with responsibility
by having a trust walk." To do a trust walk, half the
class wears blindfolds. One partner is responsible for
carefully leading his or her blindfolded partner around,
guiding physically as well as offering verbal information to
manage uneven areas and to help the partner feel safe and
comfortable. Do this for 10 minutes, then reverse roles.
Discuss the feelings associated with each role.
Ask: "How would you have felt if your partner
were not responsible?"
Lesson: Global Responsibility
Discuss the following Reflection Points:
- Global responsibility requires respect toward all
human beings.
- Responsibility is using our resources to generate a
positive change.
- A responsible person knows how to be fair, seeing that
each gets a share.
Ask:
- If you could tell every person in the world that he or
she had to be responsible, in what ways would you want
people to be responsible?
- What would you want them to do?
- What would you want them not to do?
- What is our global responsibility?
- What is our societal responsibility?
- What is our moral responsibility?
(13- and 14-
year-olds only)
Positively affirm the
positive responses. Lead them in the Peace Relaxation Exercise
if that seems appropriate. This discussion will evoke a
variety of reactions from different people. Older students may
want to discuss these questions for several periods. Help them
select relevant reading materials.
Activity: Instruct the students to make a Mind Map
of responsibility and irresponsibility.
Parenting Resource: Homework
Responsibility
A
parenting resource for talking about homework responsibility:
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/publicati
ons/PM1547G.pdf
Children and Responsibility-by the National
Association of School Psychologists
By Cynthia M. Sheehan,
Just Kids Early Childhood
Learning Center
Middle Island, NY
Background - Society today places a high priority on
"responsibility" in children. However, with the conflicting
advice offered in books, magazines, and newspaper columns
parents may feel confused as to exactly what a responsible
child is, and what, if anything, can be done to encourage
responsibility in children.
Responsibility can be thought of as respect for the rights
of others and personal accountability for one's actions.
Responsible children use their own resources, confidence, and
judgment to make decisions, act independently, consider the
effect their actions have on others and meet their own needs
without interfering with the rights of others. Read http://www.amphi.com/~psych/responsib.html
