Kids should be Deserving rather than Entitled

Kids have porous minds that soak up anything that comes to them. They learn and grasp things at a much faster pace than we adults could. Especially in the current times where almost every child has access to the newest of technologies and modern devices and have the leverage to use the latest of gadgets, high-tech toys, and other advanced things, the fine line between being “deserving” and “entitled” has started to get blur for the kids. Children these days feel entitled to all the good stuff around them rather than understanding the real value and use. This feeling of entitlement, if persists, then develops into arrogance and attitude issues later in life. This is why, we, at the JP International School, believe that it is high time that parents take a step forward and put in efforts to make the kids understand to not to take their love as an entitlement but rather appreciate it as a reward for their deserving actions. Following are a few points that we believe will help the parents to imbibe the right qualities in their children and teach them to try to be deserving rather than entitled.

Praising the Right Way

It is a proud moment for any parent when their child succeeds at anything they have been working hard at. However, it is important for the parents to understand that they must not let their emotions overflow and praise the kids too much. Studies have revealed that too much praising is detrimental to kids’ psychology and may cause them to be either become overly confident or start concentrating on the results instead of the effort. Parents need to understand that anything that the children succeed at has rewards that are self-evident. A silent acknowledgment with a smile and an occasional word of encouragement will do more good than you think.  If you start to praise your child too much, then they will become conscious and feel entitled. Instead of taking failures as something to learn from, they start equating it with stupidity which is not something any parent would want. Therefore, balancing encouragement with praise is very important for any parent to make their child understand that they deserve victory due to their hard work and should not feel entitled to it every time.

Deprioritizing Material Possessions

You all must have experienced that as soon as the kids learn to communicate, one of the first things they do is to start asking for the material possessions that interest them, and most loving parents often give in to such demands. Little do they know that this very same attitude from the parents is what makes the children feel entitled, owing to which they can’t take no for an answer. Needless to say, such an attitude is extremely detrimental and causes the kids to become more and more materialistic. This way, kids fail to learn the value of the emotions behind such gifts and start taking things for granted. Therefore, it is essential that the parents see to it that the kids know as well as clearly understand to differentiate between their ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. We, at JPIS, understand that no parents would like to hurt their children by saying no, but sometimes it is needed in teaching them to value and appreciate what they have rather than indulging in what they want.

Teaching Them Essential Values of Life

Raising a child of whom everyone can be proud of is a dream for every parent. But such a desire comes with great responsibilities as well. It is essential that we set a vivid example to our children portraying the right kind of attitude when they are around. If we start to indulge ourselves needlessly in possessions, then the kids will naturally be bound to pick up such a trait and feel themselves to be entitled to such pleasures as well. To make our children understand the value of hard work over entitlement, we must work hard ourselves and spend quality time with our family instead of simply letting the kids have whatever they want. Showing them how to work hard to earn your place is a great way to start. Bestowing the children with words of appreciation and occasional rewards can have a great effect too as they learn to value the more important aspects of life rather than finding pleasure in entitlements.

We, at the JP International School, rewarded as one of the best CBSE schools in Greater Noida, believe that it is very important to be always kept in mind that whatever we portray to our children, even unconsciously, gets hardwired into their thinking patterns and serves to shape their character. This requires us to be extremely careful around them and balance our treatment to not lean towards either extreme. Our kids are the standard bearers of the next generation of the society who will inherit the world after us; therefore, it is important that we teach them the values that go into making a good human being and creating a better future for themselves. With a motto of hard work over entitlement, such young gems are sure to shine brightly, making us all proud of them.

- JP International School