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Teaching Accountability and Responsibility to Kids

April 23, 2018

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Teaching accountability to kids is possible with these simple tips and ideas. Positively parent your way to a culture of responsibility in your household.


 

Accountability is a really hard concept for kids to grasp. The idea that you are responsible for your own actions, and then have to accept that responsibility is quite the undertaking for a child. However, by setting the precedent and with these few tips, your kids will be on the road to accepting responsibility and understanding accountability.

Teaching accountability to kids is possible with these simple tips and ideas. Positively parent your way to a culture of responsibility in your household. #positiveparenting #responsibility #accountability

What is Accountability?

Accountability might carry a negative connotation for most, we often think of it as owning up to something we have done wrong, and therefore paying a consequence.

This is sometimes the case, but accountability can also be what you do before something goes wrong. For kids, this might be following the rules as a way of being accountable for their actions, so that they don’t hurt others or make bad choices.


We can help our kids understand that being accountable for their actions means holding themselves to a high standard of behavior, not fearing or stressing about a consequence of negative behavior. They have the ability to make their own choices, and are held to a standard of responsibility for those choices that they make.

You can teach your kids accountability by making it the norm in your household. Follow these tips to get you started and to help your kids stop playing the ''blame game'.

Tips for Teaching Accountability

Teaching accountability isn’t about punishment or discipline, rather it’s about making accountability within your household the norm. Here is what this looks like:

Everyone in the family is responsible for their actions, including parents. No one gets to change the rules as a result (or to justify) their actions.

Set clear expectations for behavior and model what they look like. For example, if speaking kindly and not yelling are expected of kids, then the same should be modeled by adults. And because we all lose our cool, apologizing as adults is part of teaching accountability to our kids.

Avoid the blame game. Kids (and adults) will often try to justify their actions based on what occurred around them. Remind your child that regardless of how others act, they are responsible for how they respond, and ultimately for their own behavior.

You can teach your kids accountability by making it the norm in your household. Follow these tips to get you started and to help your kids stop playing the ''blame game'.

Does the ‘blame game’ get played in your house? Stop it by teaching accountability…

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Tell children what to do, rather than what not to do. Like we mentioned above, part of accountability is what we do before engaging in a behavior, not just the consequence for behavior. Likewise, we can help children be accountable for their actions by reminding them before a play date, “remember we keep our hands to ourselves and speak kindly to our friends”.

RELATED: WHY SAYING CALM DOWN TO KIDS DOESN’T ACTUALLY WORK

Praise responsibility. When you catch your kids showing accountability for their behavior, or even fessing up to unwanted behavior, acknowledge it. Phrases like “thank you for telling the truth” or “I like how you kept your hands to yourself when your brother pushed you”, will reinforce their attempts at responsibility.

RESOURCE: CHECK OUT THESE TALKS ON LIFE SKILLS AT THE FREE ONLINE POSITIVE PARENTING CONFERENCE

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What Accountability Will Teach Your Kids

Don’t be afraid to talk to your kids. Have conversations about the importance of responsibility and accountability for their actions. By making accountability and responsibility the norm in your house, you will stop the ‘blame game’ and will teach your kids that they have control and power over their choices and their actions.

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5 Comments
Filed Under: Gentle Parenting, Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged: accountability, gentle parenting, kids, moms, positive discipline, responsibility, teaching

Comments

  1. Tiffany says

    August 30, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    Yes to all of these!! Absolutely amazing advise! I want to share this with every single parent I know! Will share on fb this week!

    Reply
    • kchiavarone says

      August 31, 2016 at 2:00 pm

      Aw thanks so much!! It’s something we certainly have to work on all the time in our house!

      Reply
  2. Christina Ventura-DiPersia says

    January 23, 2017 at 1:49 am

    This is fabulous. It’s why I don’t believe in yelling in discipline (and definitely nothing physical) and why I always try to explain why I’m not happy or asking my daughter to do something. I think the best way for your children to hold themselves accountable is if they have great models of accountability in their parents. Saying “Because I told you to do it” just isn’t enough, because would we take that as adults if someone said that to us? I appreciate this post. Thanks again.

    Reply
    • kchiavarone says

      January 23, 2017 at 5:13 am

      Thanks for reading! I agree with you 100%

      Reply
  3. Ron says

    May 29, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    Great Post! I think that accountability is such an important thing for kids to learn at any age. It’s really difficult when everything is handed to them for them to understand what it took to get the things their given. I’ve always wondered if making them “work” for their allowance increases this accountability. After all, requiring them to complete tasks in order to actually EARN the money seems better than just handing it over.

    Reply

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Thanks so much for joining me here! I am a mommy to three, a work from home mom, and lover of play. I believe in gentle and positive parenting and a strong foundation at home.

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