How to build your kid's character

Hard work never killed anyone and it is not about to start now. You may be able to afford luxuries and comforts but every child, born rich or poor, should know that nothing is achieved without hard work. An interesting programme that illustrates this is MTV’s ‘Exiled’ where 16-year-olds are taken out of their comfort zones and thrown for a week, into corners of the world where people work hard to build a family, a community, a life.

No, we’re not saying take your kid and leave him in some obscure land for a while. Teach him about how hard people work to provide him with simplicities in daily life that is taken for granted. In Singapore, children are used to having a maid at their beck and call. Let your three-year-old hunt for grubby socks that should be in the clothes hamper. Get your five-year-old to check under the bed for dust-bunnies. Trust me, your child will not become any less the person he is by doing these menial tasks.

What a beautiful day, bursting with promises and hopes. That’s what cancer-survivor, Vivienne Koh thinks to herself each day when she wakes up. Teach your children to look at life in a positive way and watch everything glow. Life is full of opportunities and hope and children need to be gently reminded of such. It’s easy for kids to lose hope when their best friend wins first prize in a colouring contest or when the snotty kid can run the fastest. Teach your child to look at the good side of defeat. But be sure, to underline that defeat should be just be about accepting and not being contented with it.

If you have a little girl, teach her to be strong. Strong women make headlines and no we don’t mean get out there and hit all the little boys in line! Teach her about perseverance and strength. Today’s world has grown into a position that accepts women in the lead. Glass ceilings have been broken with women bosses, women judges, etc. Teach your little girl to be proud of who she is and strong for what she believes in.

Why are these characteristics important? How many times have you met a person who’s dishonest, lazy, negative or weak? Probably too many to count, yeah? We are all not perfect and one of these characters may be even ours. But change is something that does not come easy in an adult for old habits die hard, don’t they? But moulding a child from young and letting him/her become the person that we or others have failed to be, brings about a sense of accomplishment for the parent and path of good life for the child.

When you build a child’s character, you are not making your child a better person. Your child’s good character will have a positive influence on society, benefiting him/herself and many around him/her.