IN THIS 21st CENTURY, HERE IS WHAT YOU MUST BE TEACHING YOUR CHILDREN

As parents or guardians we have responsibility of guiding the children and young people towards becoming responsible citizens. This is possible if we find time for doing the teaching and we know what we have to teach the children. In this post, I start a discussion on this topic; you are welcome to comment what you think we should teach our children.

To understand value of life:

Children should know the God wants us to be useful people, wants us to take control and make the world a better place.

Therefore you should teach your child that, though to be rich is a good thing, we are not living to be rich, and that life is not only about enjoying ourselves. 

They should behave well with money. They should understand their uniqueness; discover their abilities, set their dreams and they should never give up their dreams.

They should know that they have so many years to live therefore they should remember whatever they do has an impact in their present and future lives.

The following statements from the Bible and Qur'an explain the importance of a person to take control of his or her actions and that we are responsible to make the world a better place to live.

 “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Genesis 4:7

"You will not achieve piety unless you give from what you love. Indeed, God knows it well." - Qur'an, 3:92

“Be good to parents, relatives, orphans, and the needy. Speak kindly and pay the poor-due”. - Qur'an 2:83

To depend on themselves:

The children should learn to be self-learners, learn not to depend on other people for financial matters, unless it is really necessary – this is possible if they start to learn to save and stop begging for unnecessary things.

To become entrepreneurs:  

To make the most out of challenges- at school, at home, when playing etc.

Let you child be independent, because independence is an important requirement that can facilitate innovation.

You watch your child; you guide him or her, but let your guidance be according to the perspective of your child. Let him or her try and fail, again and again, on the way, he or she learns something.  However, you must understand your position as a parent; your resources etc and act accordingly.

To maximize the use of Information Technology:  

Apart from knowing what exist in the world of information technology, but also your children need to know the positives and negatives of the IT.

As a parent or guardian find ways to inspire your child to use the technology in a positive way by you yourself using the IT in positive ways. You could start by showing the child how to use digital camera, how to take movies and edit them, how to access studying materials via multimedia sources like videos and audio etc.

To create sound network:  

“Success comes from two things the thoughts that occupy your mind and the people that you surround yourself with” Dan Sullivan, quoted in 10 THINGS TO WATCH ON PURSUIT OF PERSONAL FREEDOM.   

This is true, and your child should be able to select a network of friends who are really helpful for his or her future.

 As a parent you can help by making it possible for the child to connect through visiting other families, or attend social activities such as sports or children related ceremonies.

What do you think? What should we be teaching our children and the young people?

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