“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” — James Baldwin
Last Sunday we began the discussion about teaching children to respect themselves and others, (click here to see that post).
One of the nannies we spoke to was Ariel T., a nanny working in Charleston, SC. Ariel admits the boy she cares for often speaks to her disrespectfully. Ariel says, “The eight-year old boy I care for barks orders at me. His parents speak to me kindly when asking me to do things. But, I feel like the eight-year-old orders me around.”
Ariel understands that speaking respectfully to others is an important life skill. “My charge won’t be able to speak to a boss that way when he gets older, or he’ll be fired,” says Ariel.
Looking at the developmental stages of learning respect listed by Denise Chapman Weston and Mark S. Weston, (click here to see the chart), Ariel’s charge is in late childhood and at the perfect age to learn important social skills, such as speaking appropriately to others. The developmental chart explains that during this developmental stage you should not expect the child to pay attention to these issues if the topic is not brought to his attention. Plus, he should not be expected to learn to speak respectfully towards others if those actions are not modeled by his caregivers.
Most likely, the eight-year-old boy is mirroring what he is hearing and saying. Children simply mimic what they hear.
Are you or the parents barking orders at the child? Is he viewing movies and television programs, playing video games, or listening to music that casually introduces unacceptable language or a disrespectful tone into their vocabulary? Even in his classroom, sports teams, and summer or after school activities, are there children who use backtalk against teachers, coaches, and classmates? If he is seeing this style of communication, then he has come to believe that this is okay, even normal.
Stovie Jungreis-Wolff explains that to teach children better ways to communicate you must first be involved in what the children hear and see. Then he recommends you listen to how you speak to children.
He explains that too often, caregivers take a laissez faire attitude and allow children to set their own standards. Kids are deciding which television shows and movies they watch, surfing the web unmonitored, and programing their ipods as they wish. Caregivers must see what the children see, hear what they are listening to; and if you don’t approve you cannot be afraid to say ‘No’.
Pam Leo of Connection Parenting (
Ms. Leo says, “Human beings are like tape recorders. Every word we hear, everything we experience, is permanently recorded in our subconscious. Whenever adults speak, we are being role models for the children in our presence. What we speak is what we teach. Children record every word we ever say to them or in front of them. The language children grow up hearing is the language they will speak.”
She continues, “The most common criticism I hear of young people these days is, ‘they don’t treat anyone or anything with respect.’ Ironically, adults often try to teach children to be respectful by treating them disrespectfully. Children learn respect or disrespect from how we treat them and how we treat each other. When children live with disrespect, they learn disrespect. We can teach respect only by modeling treating each other with respect and by giving children the same respect we expect.”
So, if you are in a situation like Ariel, remember that children pick up your language, your attitude, and your tone. If you desire children who speak respectfully, who are kind with their words, then you must first speak respectfully yourself.
Do you have issues with how the children speak to you? Share your story (without stating the family’s name to respect their privacy) by clicking “comments” below.