It’s a season for giving and acts of generosity often go a long way in the lives of beneficiaries. It is often said that charity begins at home. However, it is your duty as a parent or guardian to ensure that it doesn’t end at home.
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The road to nurturing a generation that prioritises benevolence begins now with your wards. You have a role to play in ensuring that your children grow to understand the importance of charitable deeds and their contribution to creating a better society. As a guardian, here are some key steps to take to teach your child generosity.
One of the most effective means of passing the message across is through your character. Children learn a lot from what they can see. It is important you take the lead by committing to acts of social giving – giving loose change to the needy, sending clothes you no longer use to orphanage homes and shelters and making generous donations, volunteering in grassroots initiatives that serve lower socio-economic circles and so on. For most children, their first role models are their parents and guardians. As such, it is pertinent that they are given vital footprints to follow.
Another vital measure is holding regular conversations on the amount of positive impact that simple acts of kindness can have on the people who receive them. Some children have no problem following instructions, but there is a need to help them see generosity as more than just a charge but a genuine trait that should flow from within. When you get them to donate their old clothes to other under-served children their age, help them realise how happy these clothes would make them. When you get them to donate portions of their allowance to the needy, let them know how that little act of kindness could go far in placing a meal on the table of the beneficiary.
For younger age groups, you can get the message through the art of storytelling.
You should share tales that carry an underlying theme of kindness. Stories help to paint a unique picture, shape inspiring thoughts and provoke insightful conversations. There should always be a key lesson they can take from each story, and a highly benevolent character they can strive to emulate in their immediate community – at home, in their classroom, at Sunday School and so on.
Older children might not be as fascinated by folklore and stories as their younger counterparts. Alternatively, you can take pages of the book of real-life philanthropic role models, who use their platforms to channel a ripple effect of good through different means.
Finally, guardians can dedicate special holidays and occasions to performing charitable deeds. Such activities should involve the participation of your wards. Have them assist you in the kitchen while you prepare a meal for neighbours; have them accompany you on a visit to the orphanage home shelters for physically challenged individuals and so on.
These steps will get your child on board with the importance of being generous to the people around them.
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