Category Archives: Life Lessons

Discipline, Life Lessons, Motivation, Parenting, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Teaching Children About The Importance Of Charity

Mark, guest contributor

Charitable giving is one of the noblest acts a person can do. There is joy in giving and only those who give happily understand this.

Usually we can watch and hear news in the media screaming about increase in crime and acts of selfishness all day long, while there are also many awesome benefactors in the world who strive to help their fellow men, but those are stories that rarely make it in the media, unless the donated amount is obscene.

It is therefore, dare I say it – obligatory for this generations parents to teach by example to their kids about the advantages of helping other people through acts of charity.

Unlike Mathematics or English, charity is not a life lesson that translates to a specific curriculum. Teaching your children about charity is not as easy these days where all the value seems to be on having more and better and newer things, and thus requires discipline.

There are several ways you can teach your children how to be charitable without having to focus on negative things that could leave the child disinterested.

 

Donating clothes

Once in a while take some time to go through the closets in your home and fish out clothes that you no longer wear or need. These clothes can be given to a children’s home or go to the needy.

When you are doing it, encourage your child to do the same. Allow them to let go of old toys they no longer play with. For the maximum effect, be there with the children while they do it and make sure they are aware of the difference they will make.

Encourage them to let go of the items they could really be attached to, explaining the impact they could have on someone else’s life. Take your child with you to the charity where you will drop your stuff, and if at all possible make sure your child actually sees the difference that their toys can make in the life of another child.

 

Helping the neighbors

It is advised that you regularly engage in service oriented projects. Rake leaves out of the elderly couples backyards. Bake cookies and cakes for the people that bring you mail, milk or other deliverables, it will make their day.

You could also make food and take it to the homeless feeding stations in your community.

 

Donating blood

When going for blood donations, take the children with you. This will cause them to view you as a role model. Talk to them about the reason for giving blood and the importance of it.

 

You can have fun

It doesn’t all have to be about giving up stuff or enduring pain while giving blood. You can also play charitable house lotteries or car lotteries in which you stand a chance to win a house or a car, all the while knowing that, even if you don’t win, your proceeds are going for a good cause.

 

The importance being charitable

These simple acts may seem very minor, but the impact they will have on the child later in life is priceless. This way you will raise children who are sensitive to other peoples’ plights. The children will also value acts of sharing instead of buying into today’s capitalist mindset.

Additionally these acts of kindness will definitely make a huge difference in the society at large. The world will be a much better place for all of us.

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Mark is a father of two great kids whom he wants to grow up in equally great people, so he teaches them important life lessons while he still has influence on their development.

Child Safety, Family Safety, Life Lessons, SYN Digital Enrollment Director

Knowing Who to Let In and When to Evacuate the House

No matter what your situation is there are going to be times when your teen and even preteen children are going to be left at home.  Sometimes this may be with a babysitter but there will be times when they are just left HOME ALONE. When left alone your children should be “schooled” in some basic safety protocols that include what happens when someone who they don’t know is trying to get into the house and what happens if they are forced for whatever reason to evacuate the house.

Number One: Don’t let unauthorized persons into the house when parents are away. Unauthorized persons are not necessarily strangers.  They may be known to the child but not authorized at this time to be in the house. Your child needs to be given the decision making authority and be provided with the confidence to know that their reasonable decision making will not be questioned. No one gets in without the parent being contacted for permission for that person to enter. This means that you or alternative authority figures have to be available to be contacted by the child, if necessary. A fail safe is a call to 911 with the child saying the right phrase – “My name is … I live at … I am HOME ALONE and someone who I don’t know (or is not authorized) is trying to get into my house. Help Me.”

Number Two: What should you child do when s/he is HOME ALONE and someone is forcing there way into your home? It doesn’t work like the HOME ALONE Movie where the child stays and successfully defends his/her home from the home invaders. Although the child could try to hide, escape detection, and remain safe, the reality is that s/he could be discovered and harmed. The best choice for the child, when properly executed, is to follow a preplan evacuation route from the house, get to a pre arranged place of safety, and contact the police along with the parents. This evacuation plan works for home invasions, fires, and other emergencies requiring evacuation from the house.

The safest choice is not to let an unauthorized person into the house and, if necessary, knowing how to get out quickly to a place of safety while contacting the appropriate people. Talk this over with your kids and role play it – walk through these situations in order to put them in context for your children. This is necessary to make sure that they will respond properly under stress rather that freezing up at the point of impact.

Gary Klugiewicz is employed by http://www.PoliceOne.com as a law enforcement consultant. He is nationally known as law enforcement defensive tactics trainer. He can be contacted at gtklugiewicz@cs.com