Intro here – Physical Courage – Emotional Courage – Intellectual Courage – Social Courage – Moral Courage – Spiritual Courage
How to help your child show MORAL COURAGE
Moral courage involves having the courage to stand up for one’s convictions. It centres around ‘doing the right thing’ according to your personal beliefs and ideas about Life.
It’s not easy for kids to have moral courage, but often they have it in greater abundance than the adults around them. Perhaps it is because they see things with clearer eyes without weighing all the personal consequences.
Greta Thunberg is a great example of a young person with moral courage. She believes the planet needs to be saved from the excesses of human consumption – and is prepared to stand up for that belief.
To help your child have greater moral courage:
INTRODUCE CONCEPTS OF MORALITY EARLY
…Not necessarily as dictates or rules that must be obeyed unquestioningly (see Intellectual Courage!), but as topics for discussion where your kids can look at the benefits of living by moral standards to themselves and society.
CODES OF CONDUCT
- Having a template of good, admirable behaviour is extremely useful. It helps give a child a sense of self and character. If the code includes achieving specific daily targets, like the Scout and Guide Movement’s aim of doing a ‘good turn’ for someone else every day, it will introduce an additional source of purpose and direction. With aosme direction and examples of personal codes of conduct that some of their heroes follow, they could write their own personal code of conduct — a standard of values that they will hold themselves to. It can help to cast your child as the hero in their own life story, giving them a role, the kind of heroic person, to which they want to live up to. See also: Scout Promise.
- At the very least, you could discuss The Golden Rule (the principle of treating others as you want to be treated, or better still, because it takes into account cultural differences, as they want to be treated), including why it works and is a great practice. Such a discussion could help your child overcome any emotional resistance to expending effort on making other people’s lives better at some cost to themselves. Examining the law of reciprocity or Sowing and reaping can also help build the understanding of why it is a’good idea’ to be of service and help and kindness to others.
HOLD UP AND ADMIRE EXAMPLES OF MORAL COURAGE
- Show your child when and where they might be ‘called upon’ to show moral courage – like standing up for someone being bullied, showing loyalty to a friend when they are being ostracised by the ‘in-crowd’, or protesting something that goes against what they know to be the right course of action.
“MORAL COURAGE Is the highest expression of humanity.” ~ Ralph Nader
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