Did you know that the parents of successful children tend to have certain qualities in common, including setting high expectations, modeling healthy relationships, and promoting a growth mindset?

In addition to these qualities, there are several other qualities on the list that are related to teaching the importance of social responsibility to children.

Raising socially responsible children sets them up for personal and professional success down the road. But how exactly does a parent go about raising children to be socially responsible? Here, we break down a few of the keyways to do so.

Promote Empathy

Empathy is the foundation of all social responsibility. Understanding and predicting the feelings of others is what motivates us to take socially responsible action daily.

To promote empathetic awareness in your child, teach them how to talk about and identify their own feelings. Once they have a thorough understanding of their own feelings, invite them to use this knowledge to understand the feelings of others. For example, asking, “How would you feel if you were them?” helps children understand that their actions and behaviors have emotional consequences for other people.

Encouraging your child to act with kindness helps them to put their empathy skills into practice.

Teach Accountability

A huge component of teaching social responsibility is teaching your children to take accountability for their actions. Keep your children safe, of course, but don’t insulate them from the natural consequences of their actions.

Teach your children how to admit when they make a mistake. The best way to do this is to model this behavior yourself.

When you make a mistake in front of your child, say out loud that you know you made a mistake. If feelings were hurt, apologize for the harm, and ask for forgiveness. By watching you take accountability for your actions, your children will learn how to do the same.

Build Global Awareness

To build a sense of social responsibility, kids need to know what’s going on in the world around them. This includes your neighborhood, your city, your country, and the entire world.

When kids ask questions about the world around them, don’t shy away from giving them honest, age-appropriate answers. Encourage them to be curious about the natural world, interpersonal dynamics, and all the reasons why things are the way they are in the world.

If your child asks a question that you don’t know the answer to, take the time to learn together! This has the added benefit of modeling lifelong learning for your child as well.

Give Back to Your Community

Finally, put all this learning into action by volunteering your time within your community. Your child will see their actions have a direct, positive impact on their community. Plus, they’ll learn the value of giving their time to others instead of just using it to their own benefit.

Raising Socially Responsible Children: Begin Today

As you can see, raising socially responsible children isn’t always easy, but the payoff is well worth the effort. By promoting empathy, accountability, and global awareness, you’ll teach your child to be an engaged, active member of their community.

Interested in joining a community as dedicated as you are to fostering your child’s growth? Contact us to enquire about enrolling today!