Respect: An attribute your child needs to learn

Countless people would do whatever it takes to earn respect. Everyone wants to be treated with respect regardless of who they are. The grand question however is; who is supposed to teach this attribute of respect to the young ones. Needless to say, the family is the bedrock from which the children are supposed to learn how to respect others. Mukamariza Sophie, a mother of six and an expert in child care and development, believes that there is no better time to shape the character of a child than between the ages of three and seven years. “That is when the young sapling has not yet been bent by life’s gales,” she saysShe is quick to add that at that tender age, the child will copy whatever the parents do and later emulate them. Reverend Gatara Emma, pastor at Kacyiru Anglican Church and a father of four, notes that it is every parent’s role to instill the discipline of respect in their children. And it is every child’s obligation to respond positively to what they are taught.“The issue of respect vis-à-vis the family goes two ways,” he asserts. “The parent plays the teacher role and the child, the student role.”He goes on to quote two scriptures from the Bible; Genesis: 20:12-15 and Eph: 6:1 which hint on the child’s role of respecting parents as instructed by God.It is also worth noting that some parents have never been in touch with the respect ‘idea’ and so are not the best at teaching what they do not practice. Some have even grown up in homes where words like ‘Muraho’ or addressing an adult in the cultural plural is an abomination.“Charity begins at home,” Christian Musanganirwa of Camp Kanombe Primary School argues, “If mum and dad do not respect each other, where can we learn to respect others?”True as that may sound, home still remains the grass root for all aspects of a child’s growth and development, which is why parents are encouraged to ensure that their kids have unquestionable respect traits.