Time has come today where it seems the truth of the old saying –‘end justifies the means’ is being applied everywhere. This mantra can easily be seen in our adult life as well. Life has become a race and each one of us wants all the things at any cost. To achieve all that we desire, we are compromising on many counts. The public life is full of everyday cases of deceit, dishonesty and unfair practises. Often, an unkind comment on the Facebook post, a nasty remark is seen as a fun game without a consideration for the consequences. But actually, the consequences are real. Do we realise that we would be paying a cost for it someday? 

Yes, there is a price to pay for ignoring the value of INTEGRITY and scars can have deep impact. It is scary to observe that as the adults are losing integrity in professional domain, so the children are also losing the value of imbibing integrity. 

To help the children grow into well groomed adults and good human beings, it is crucial that we ask ourselves the tough question as to which values are most critical and then teach those values to our children. 

INTEGRITY is the virtue of being able to act in consistency with our value systems, beliefs, and morality. In simple words, INTEGRITY means doing the right thing even when no one is looking. A famous quote by DON GALER,

INTEGRITY is what we do, what we say, and what we say we do.

But,

How do we develop it in our children?

Is it not that whatever we earn has to be repaid also? Acts that we do today have a cascading effect such as a paper leak by some unscrupulous person inadvertently gets the paper cancelled of innocent and hard-working children also. Similar to this in adult life, a fund guzzled by few people of a company leads to scams worth cores of rupees of hard earned money of the public. We, as adults should understand that though the children are influenced by real world role models and imbibe their value systems from them. Yet, families, teachers, educators are still the primary influencers who teach by example. 

Often, for a child, his or her success is defined by the achievement of academic goals. While these are important, the importance of values cannot be undermined.  The journey of a child into adulthood can be made more fulfilling and satisfying. Here are a few short tips that can be implemented on a daily basis to help us and our children: 

Teach Digital Etiquette. Children today take on to social media from a young age as the world is going increasingly digital. Everything starting from cheating to cyber bullying can be done without any witness with smartphones. The child should know the right from the wrong so that they can stand up against cyber bullies, take on fear and have your support as they present themselves with integrity.

Reward Respectful Behaviour. When the child knows the importance of good life beyond the grades, they learn the values quicker. Let your child know that you admire their behaviour when they show values like respect and integrity.

Explore Consequences. Children learn in their early years that failure means consequences even from simple events like being disrespectful to peers and losing out on friendships. They learn to understand the consequences of not being responsible. Building integrity will help them.

Respond Appropriately. As a parent one cannot be present at every moment to guide and check the child’s behaviour. But one can respond appropriately with consistency every time so that the child understands from our own talk and mannerisms as to what is unacceptable and what is not. 

Be a role model. It cannot be overemphasised that one should review what one says or shares on the social media. It is highly possible that children are noticing and watching you.

Build on INTEGRITY. Build a better FUTURE.