Teaching Values To Teens: 7 proven ways.

Overtime, the society has witnessed a growing decline in the morals and behaviour of children and teenagers. This growing concern has become a burden not only to parents and teachers but also to guardians, security personnel and even government authorities striving to restore disciplines and values.

While these challenges may seem overwhelming, they also present an opportunity for parents, teachers and communities to play an active role in shaping the next generation of leaders. According to research, teaching values education early helps young people to be morally and ethically responsible and grow into disciplined and purpose driven adults.

Below are 7 Proven ways to teach values to Teens?

Be Positive and Verbal: My Dad once told me not to make a liar my friend, because I would one day
become a liar; birds of the same feather flock together, right?
That lesson keeps ringing in my head and I’ve grown to not make friends with liars or
become a liar myself. The value of honesty was instilled in me because my Dad spoke
about it. Verbally teach your teens the values you desire they should have. It should
come up in discussions while you take your evening strolls, wash the dishes together or
even while you’re riding in the car to church.

Give a test: Now I don’t mean you should spy on your kids, but you can try this: Buy a
value loaded book and give a copy to your child, ask him/her to read it consistently for a
Week. This is a test of consistency.
Dr. Ben Carson’s Mum carried out this test on him and the result was productive.
Consistency and commitment in doing the right thing yields beautiful results. There are
other tests you can carry out on your teen to instill the value you desire, you just have to
think in and out of the box.

Be an example: This works in a really great way. If you ever lived with your parents, you
would agree with me that there are things you do consciously or unconsciously because
you’ve seen your parents do them. Things like attempting to speak like Dad or trying out
Mum’s heels.
Values can be taught the same way, showing the value you want your teen-child to
learn. Be loyal to your friends and family, and you’ll see your teen adopting that virtue of
loyalty.

Share your stories: We’ve all had our moments in life, the ones we regret and those we
cherish. Why don’t you share them?
Your kids can pick up a lesson or two from your story, and would be careful enough not
to tread on the same path of regret and would of course be excited to have a playback of
the cherishing moments.

Ask questions: Basically, talking about values isn’t enough. Try asking questions like:
● What is most important to you in life?
● What do you think about saving(money)?
● Would you help a fellow student that’s being bullied?

They may not give answers that are 100% correct, but those questions are a good foundation
on which the discussions of values can be built.

Rewards and gifts: have you ever promised your child a gift if he/she does something
good? It’s soothing. Personally, gifts boost my Morales. I become super-active when I’m sure I would get a reward for my good work. Learn to reward your child for their good works, they would be encouraged to do more. It must not be material gifts, even words of praises would do the Job for you.

Today’s teens are tomorrow’s Leaders. Sow good values and reap a better society
tomorrow.

EWB

Encourage and support them: As adults, we may be so intent in enforcing rules and
laws of engagement on our teens that we hardly notice their down moments. Showing
them support and encouraging them as they journey through life would build their
confidence and enable them to strive in becoming better persons.