Real Responsibility

Taking responsibility is one of the key components parents use to evaluate their children’s maturity. How do we determine whether or not our children are responsible? The answer lies within the word responsibility. People are responsible when they demonstrate the ability to respond.

parentStrategy tip:

Teach your child to take responsibility by making sure age appropriate tasks are completed on a regular basis. Certainly, children and teenagers are uneven in their responsibility taking behavior. If you are concerned, ask yourself “is my child generally able to respond to the expectations laid before him or her.” If the answer is yes, do not create battles over the lack of follow through. Simply remind and intermittently reinforce. If the answer is no, develop a program or routine with your child that you both understand the goal is to teach “the ability to respond.” Create small tasks that your child can succeed at and in a stepwise fashion build on the successes with increased responsibility.

Real responsibility means you have the ability to respond.

“We judge ourselves by our motives and others by their actions.”

-Dwight Morrow