The Moral Education of Children

Many parents are concerned about laying a good foundation for their children that they might grow to become moral, responsible adults. In part, parents often rely on Sunday school or other types of religious education to help convey the message of morality. In raising moral children, there are a few points that bear remembering.

First, child rearing is a developmental endeavor. That implies that children progress through moral stages and understandings at a certain (variable) pace. There is little evidence that children can be hurried along the developmental journey. There is a developmental track for moral development, social development, and cognitive development. All areas of development come into play in our efforts to raise moral children. Jean Piaget, the famous developmentalist, reminds us that young children have not yet arrived at the stage of formal, symbolic thought.

Many parents will attempt to moralize with children in abstract, moral discussions-suitably "watered-down," or so they think, to meet their kids where they are. However, if research on cognitive development is at all correct, it is unlikely that children are being "converted" to a moral or religious stance. They may say "yes" and seem to get the point, but it is unlikely that they do.

Safety Education For Kids and Teens

I thought I was knowledgeable about the dangers our children face in our crazy mixed up world. After all I raised five special needs children as a single parent after my wife passed away. It was not until I read some articles about the dangers facing our children on the internet that I realized I was only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Safety education for kids and teens is critical and should be on the top of every parent to do list. Parents must take action immediately to assure the safety of our kids not only on the internet but in other life events as well.

Here are some really frightening statistics from law enforcement agencies:

*When your child enters a chat room and engages in conversation with someone there is a 50% probability that the stranger they are talking to is a pedophile pretending to be a child.

*At any time you are on the internet there are over 5 million pedophiles online with you.

*Your child can gain instant access to 1.8 billion pornographic websites.

*Even if your child has no interest in porn sites there is a 25% chance your child will still be exposed to pornographic images without warning while surfing the net.

*Around 75% of our kids will share personal information over the internet that could cause them or their family to be at risk.

*33% of our children will be subjected to cyber bullying, a serious danger on the internet.

*41% of cyber bullying victims will not tell friends, family, or teachers about the incidents and will keep the pain and depression they are experiencing to themselves, sometimes resulting in suicide (Bullycide is the new term).

Financial Education For Kids

One of the differences between rich families and poor families is that rich families teach their children about how to be rich. However, there are ways to teach any child how to be better with a checkbook. There are, of course, books and sites to help your child create a business and succeed at it. One that comes to mind is "Rich Kid Smart Kid", by Robert Kiyosaki. Also the famous cashflow 101 for kids board game by the same author is definitely a great start.

Peak the kid interest in making money

Kids can generate their own cash flow. It's just a matter of teaching them the basics, and then encouraging them to try things. Before you let them loose, remember to show them a few things. The most obvious thing to show them is the advantages of having their own income. For example, they can buy their own clothes and toys, as well as food. Once they realize that they can pay for things themselves, their interest in making money will be peaked.

Show them where your money goes. Specifically, show them bills, and what each bill buys the household. Also, go over the food bill, and show how much food the family eats on a monthly basis. Although there will be some dispute whether some items (such as Brussels sprouts) should be on the list, and questions as to why others (such as pizza) aren't on the menu more often, you can show them why pizza and other fast food items aren't bought as often because of their cost compared to normal food.