Teaching Children the Importance of Honesty

Today, in the world that we live in, being only educated is not enough. To be truly successful, it is essential that we have the virtues that complement our academic knowledge. Among all the attributes, honesty is one of the crucial assets that is important for all of us to possess. Teaching or learning such a virtue is not as difficult as it seems and can be gradually adapted or derived through a process of cultural socialization. Honesty doesn’t come naturally, but it is an internalized process of adopting it through a broad overview. Thus, it is essential for us as responsible adults and teachers to take up the mantle of responsibility and give our children the benefit of a stellar character.

Hence, we, at JP International School, have charted here a few wise tips that can help the parents to teach the values of honesty to their dear kids at a young age and give them the gift of a personality that everyone around them will come to respect and adore. The following tips can help you achieve such goals for your child:

• Talk with your children: Instead of rebuking a child for dishonesty, what you can do is to regularly interact with them about the values of honesty in the social sphere. It is important to let them know that they can count on each other to speak the truth, no matter how difficult it may be. Honesty is the bedrock on which relationships stand, and mutual trust, as well as respect, can be built. It is essential for a child to acknowledge that once trust is broken, it is hard to get it back. So a clear emphasis should be given on honesty rather than punishment for immoral behavior. They should be motivated for their reliability and should be encouraged to tell the truth.
• Honesty is the best policy: Parents should teach children the advantages of being honest along with the consequences of being dishonest and should popularize the phrase that ‘honesty is the best policy’ to them. Children with high moral values have a huge impact on society. They usually become successful in the near future and set an example for other individuals. Thus, parents have the opportunity to develop the characteristics or traits of being honest in their kids by incentivizing. Also, parents should keep in mind that not everyone can be perfect at all times and so they should also embrace their children’s faults with grace at a few times. It is crucial to be understood that love and not admonishing can bear fruitful results.
• Set behavioral expectations: Often children try to get away from trouble by telling lies. It is, therefore, the duty of the parents to make them understand that honesty is the key to success. One of the most effective ways is to show your child what you expect and express your gratitude and happiness when they stand up to it. Honesty starts at home and thus parents, teachers, and even the society serve as the key role models for children, from where they attain the primary moral education, values, and customs. Therefore, tolerance, patience, analysis, and trust are the best tools one can use to help kids adopt honesty.
• Offer forgiveness: There are many ways in which honesty can be projected and rewarded. Children should be taught that harsh truth no matter how hurtful is far better than the white lies that profoundly impact the character and creates a bad perception in the society. Parents should make children understand the difference between such lies and honesty by having a discussion and offering amnesty when needed. You can help your child to correct their mistakes with forgiveness that can result in self-realization and help them to take steps to correct their errors on their own.
• Set vivid examples: It is always wise and useful to try and set vivid examples while explaining to the child the concept of honesty. The best way is to start at home by establishing standards of being honest yourself and encouraging honesty even with admitting mistakes. You should make it evident for your child that you value honesty and not correctness.

Learning any such values begin from home, but we also understand that it is in the institutes of education where children take definite shape and build the character. Therefore, we at JP International School, one of the Top CBSE Schools in Greater Noida, always try to inculcate among our pupils the high moral values and ideals of honesty. We believe it is one of our prime responsibility to make children realize how honesty and honest confession can help in building a great character. We truly believe in the saying “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” Having academic integrity is as important as creating a spotless character. With such standards of values, morals, and principles, we are sure that our young generation will certainly set shining examples in our society and lead to a brighter future.

- JP International School