Be a good citizen. Honest Abe Lincoln. The Golden Rule.
How do we teach our good kids to navigate increasingly tough choices, especially in the digital age? This masterclass begins the discussion and includes a live Q&A to address your family’s specific answers can be found in Rushmore Kidder’s lovely book, Good Kids, Tough Choices. An ethics researcher, Dr. Kidder answered the requests of hundreds of parents, expanded his research to the children, and put forth a book full of guidance. It has been a favorite parenting resource of mine for years, and that is why it will be our first Parenting Book Club read and from the framework of this Parenting Sensitivity masterclass.
Did you grow up with a sense of ethics or personal integrity? Most adults living now were raised with some lessons in the area of ethics and integrity, but much of it came from living in communities who valued living well, with an awareness of others. The community was sometimes a religious one, but it also included the town or neighborhood and the extended family.
In today’s world, parents are often on their own when it comes to teaching ethics. What was once implicit in child rearing now must become explicit. If you were raised with strong personal ethics and integrity, you probably don’t even remember specific lessons from your parents or grandparents. It was just how we lived.
Sadly, it is no longer how the world lives. Maybe you think ethics are being taught at the school. To some extent, this is true, but like grammar and history, it is just a small planted seed. It needs watering, weed-pulling, sunshine, and protection from the gophers. The school might plant a seed now and then, but our society and your child’s peers are planting lots of weeds. It is up to today’s parents to plant more seeds than weeds.
This masterclass stands alone, but we hope you will be intrigued enough to pick up the book and join the book club where parents will meet online every other week and discuss the lessons, the trials and tribulations, and the triumphs as they implement the lessons. Taught and guided by Alane Freund, licensed family therapist and parent of a spirited, sensitive boy, this class and the biweekly bookclub to follow will give you the support and knowledge you need to plant those ethics and integrity seeds in a more intentional manner. It’s your job, and you have all the tools you need. Now you will know how to use your tools.
PS
The F-word! Is your 11 year old dropping F-bombs all over the place? It was often in my son’s text conversations! While you may not agree, research shows that parents need to monitor the text conversations of young teens. When you do, you might suddenly see that this ethics thing is not quite as strong as you would hope. We’ll talk about it and find solutions.