Responsibility
· Do what you are supposed to do
· Persevere; keep on trying!
· Use self-control
· Be self-disciplined
· Think before you act-consider
the consequences
· Be accountable for your choices
Working
with Children and Teens
Children learn about acting responsibly by identifying
responsible behavior in hypothetical situations. Read the following situations and have children
tell what is a responsible reaction and why:
· You’re sitting at your
desk ready to take and exam. You
were told to bring a #2 pencil, and you forgot. What would you do?
· You’re at a fast food
restaurant. You have just paid for your
lunch, but when you count you change you notice that its not enough. What do you do?
· You’ve worked long and
hard writing a special story. When
you get your paper back from the teacher, the grade is lower than you think
you deserve. What do you do?
Children become more aware of
their behavior by keeping a “responsibility journal” for two or
three days. Record behavior in one
of these three sections: being dependable,
being accountable, and doing my best.
Discuss strengths and weaknesses.
Practicing
Responsibility 1
Taking responsibility is a way to show we are people of
character. It means doing our part,
controlling our thoughts and actions, and doing our best. When we are acting responsibly we take
the blame when it is due and do not claim credit for other people’s
work. We accept responsibility for
our decisions. Being responsible
means we:
· Think before we act.
· Think about how our actions
affect others.
· Think before we speak.
· Are accountable; taking
responsibility for the results of what we do and don’t do.
· Fix our mistakes.
· Keep trying. Stick to duties even when they are
difficult.
· Are reliable and always do our
job.
· Clean up our own messes.
· Show perseverance by
demonstrating a commitment to finish what we start.
Responsibility journals – Encourage your children
to become more aware of their behavior by keeping a responsibility journal
for two or three days. Suggest they
record their behavior in one of three sections: being dependable, being accountable, and
doing my best. After two or three
days discuss the journal with them.
You may also want to keep a journal for the same period of time.
Practicing
Responsibility 2
“You can count on me!” We’ve all said it. We’ve probably all meant it. But have we always carried through?
Ethical people are responsible. You can count on them to be accountable,
show self-restraint and pursue excellence.
· Think before you act!
· Be accountable! Don’t blame anyone else for your
mistakes.
· Be reliable!
· Set a good example in what you
say and do.
· Take the initiative to make your
school, organization, neighborhood, or home better for yourself and other.
· Do your best!
· Stick to it!
· Finish your work before you
play.
Practice Exercises
What would you do?
You agree to go to the big dance with a friend because
the boy or girl you really like is dating another student. Five days before the dance, your dream
date asks you to go with them.
You give the school lunch lady $10.00 for your
lunch. She is very busy and
mistakenly gives you change for a $20.00.
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4-H
Character Connections - Responsibility
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“You can count on
me!” We’ve all said it
– and we meant it at the time.
But have we always carried through? Responsibility means:
·
Doing what you are supposed to do
·
Persevering; keep on trying
·
Doing your best
·
Using self-control
·
Being self-disciplined
·
Thinking before you act and considering the
consequences.
Infants,
Toddlers and Preschoolers
Modeling responsible behavior is one
of the best things you can do. If your
children see you being responsible, they will want to act responsibly
too. Once infants start on table food, give them the opportunity to feed
themselves. Yes, it will be messy,
but they will learn the satisfaction of trying.
Toddlers enjoy completing small tasks
you give them like picking up toys, find their shoes, choosing between
two stories to read. Give your
toddler the chance to choose what to wear. This also teaches him that his opinion
counts. These activities help your
toddler feel confident, and they also learn to be responsible.
Your preschooler wants to help. Give him jobs at which they can
succeed; it will make him feel that he is contributing and he will also
learn about being responsible.
Seed
Planting Activity
Help your child select flower or
vegetable seeds. Using a Styrofoam
cup or small pot filled with soil, help him plant the seeds. Explain that it is his responsibility
to remind you every day that the plant needs water and light. Have him help you water the plant and
place it somewhere that it gets adequate light.
School-Age, Middle School and Teens
As you can see from the list of traits, responsibility
is an important aspect of character.
Help your child understand
that being responsible means choosing his words
and actions carefully. It also
means he is responsible for his actions and must take responsibility for
the consequences of his choices.
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Choosing either a positive or
negative attitude is also a responsibility. Help your teen understand that a
negative attitude can be harmful and people don’t like to be around
others with a bad attitude. Viktor
Frankl, survivor of a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, once
said, “Everything can be taken from man except the last of the
human freedoms, his ability to choose his attitude in any given set of
circumstances…”
Encourage your child to have a positive attitude. You may be viewed as the enemy but be
persistent – solicit help from another adult that your teen
admires. Here are some suggested
messages to stimulate a change in attitude:
1.
Attitudes are products of feelings and always
acting on feelings is unhealthy and unwise. A person of character takes time to
make good decisions.
2.
While initial emotional responses (anger,
sadness, etc.) occur spontaneously, with reflection and willpower it is
possible to change one’s perspective.
3.
How we react to an incident is determined by how
we perceive facts and intentions.
Our perceptions can often be based on erroneous assumptions
produced by negative attitudes.
4.
Accept what you cannot change.
5.
Selfishness is self-destructive.
6.
Bad things do happen, but the happiest and most
successful people in life learn to put tragedies, failures, and hurt
feelings behind them.
(Parenting
To Build Character in Your Teen – Josephson, Peter and Dowd,
2001)
Adapted
from materials written for US Army Child and Youth Services and USDA
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.
CHARACTER COUNTS! and the Six Pillars of Character are service
marks of the CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition, a project of the Josephson
Institute of Ethics. www.charactercounts.org
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