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Community Corner

How Do You Teach Your Children Responsibility?

It's an important virtue for your kid to learn. What tips can you offer other parents on how to teach their kids how to be responsible? What do you do to instill responsibility in your child?

Creating a responsible citizen starts at home, but how can parents foster responsibility in their children?

Begin with the basics – get your child involved and have him or her have some duties of their own.

From the time children are very small, they should be expected to do the basics – clean up after themselves, close doors and drawers, put caps on containers after use, etc.

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Even as a youngster, children can be expected to clean up after pets, walk them, put out fresh water and feed them. They can do chores around the house like empty waste baskets, bring in the mail and carry their plates to the kitchen after meals.

Once children get older, their responsibilities should become more varied and complex, and possibly increase in number.

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Some parents who believe in preparing their children well for the future create charts that get posted in a prominent place at home (the ever-present fridge??) with the entire family’s responsibilities – including the parents.

It is important for children to see that everyone plays a part in the family’s success and that all parts are important for life to run smoothly with everyone sharing the load.

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