Are we practising what we preach?
When raising children, to most of us parents anyway, isn’t the goal to make them into nice, caring people? We want them to be kind and respectful, to include and pay it forward and above everything, to not bully or cause harm to others.
However, how good are we really at living by these rules ourselves? According to a new study, it turns out, not so much.
Past UK research among 1,001 children aged 11 to 16 by the Anti-Bullying Alliance suggested worrying numbers of children see adults setting a bad example.
Children want adults to show each other more respect, with four out of 10 (41 percent) admitting they see grown-ups bullying each other in the past six months, and behaved poorly to each other face-to-face, online or in the media.
In fact, a whopping 97 percent of the children asked said they would like to see more respect shown between grown-ups.
‘Show respect’
Martha Evans, director of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, told the BBC: “Children look to parents and other grown-ups for a blueprint of acceptable behaviour. If a considerable number of children say they see adults bullying and being disrespectful to each other, we have to ask whether grown-ups could do more to act as role models to children.”
The research also suggests a third of children had experienced being bullied in the last six months. But nearly all children – some 98 percent – said that showing respect to each other is important, and acknowledged that it was possible to be respectful even if you disagree.
“We hope that adults, as well as schoolchildren, will take the ‘choose respect’ message to heart during Anti-Bullying Week, and put it into practice even in situations where they disagree with someone else,” Evans explained.
“Being bullied can turn a child’s life upside down; we should always check our own behaviour, especially around children, to make sure it sends a positive message of respect.”
The research was carried out with 1,001 children in England aged 11 to 16.
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