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The Meaning Of Committment
By admin | March 27, 2008
Now that the school year is back in full swing and everyone has settled into their new classes, moms and dads the world over will be badgered to let their children join this team or that club or some organization. While getting involved is important for many reasons, it is also important that your child understands what his or her commitment to each team, club or organization means.
Getting involved in extracurricular activities gives your children a chance to discover what they like, what they dislike and what they are good at. These activities allow them to have fun and blow off steam after a long day in the classroom. Depending on the activity, it may also be a way for your child to build social skills, and is definitely a way for them to meet new people and make new friends. With all these advantages, it’s no wonder that kids are so excited about joining new groups when school starts, and parents should be equally so.
Before the whole family gets carried away with this excitement, however, you should talk to your child about what commitment means. Each of the groups that he or she joins has expectations to meet. You don’t want your kids to join too many things and then become overwhelmed, especially if it starts to interfere with their schoolwork. Explain that once he or she signs up, they have to stick with it until the end. This may not seem like an issue in the beginning, but later on when your child wants to quit for one reason or another you’ll have a hard time reminding them of their promise to stick with their commitment.
Even if your child claims he or she doesn’t like the activity anymore, it’s important that you make them stay with it until it is over. This may be very difficult sometimes, but it is an important lesson your children need to learn. Quitting should not be an option. Letting them quit anytime something gets too hard or they don’t feel like doing it anymore sets them up for a lifetime of failure. Teaching them to stick to the commitments they have made not only teaches them perseverance, but it will also teach them to think long and hard before making their next commitment. Skills like this will make your child a better student now, a better employee in the future, and a more responsible person overall.
While preaching this message of commitment, you want to make sure you practice it as well. Parents are the first reference children have when it comes to acceptable behavior. If you are constantly trying to get your way out of previous commitments, you are setting a bad example for your children. You may not always feel like going to an event you promised to attend, but sticking to your commitments will show your children that sometimes the right thing to do isn’t always what you want to do.
Solomon Brenner has been teaching martial arts to children and adults for
ten years, and holds a 6th degree black belt in Kenpo Karate. During that
time he has held countless seminars on subjects such as self-esteem in
children and teens, behavior and discipline, praise vs. punishment, career
motivation, goal setting, parenting, and self defense. He has spoken to
elementary schools, women’s groups, scouting organizations, civic
associations and corporate seminars. Using these experiences, he has
recently authored Black Belt Parenting, a motivational how-to book
parents.
Tags: children, commitment, parenthing, quitting
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