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Character Building And Our Cell Phones While Eating

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Character Building Parents are often the first models and teachers of character their children interact with. Even before children are able to talk and walk, their subconscious is collecting data from their external environments. Character building can be challenging especially in a technology driven culturally diverse climate we live in. I can recall establishing a norm with my niece to not interact with our cell phones while eating in public because we want to give our full attention to each other or the company we are with. This norm is easier said than done when it is tempting to document our experience by taking multiple pictures of different posed angles followed by a social share on Instagram or Snapchat. Once we deviate from the …show more content…

Unlike most of her friends during Christmas break who were fixated on what they were going to find under the Christmas tree, my niece was fixated on raising funds to support the efforts of the International Justice Mission to help end modern day slavery. This level of service-oriented, compassion driven character in her required me providing her with opportunities and support to serve her community through various endeavors she is passionate about. Often times parents become fixated on reprimanding the negative behaviors their children exhibit instead of noticing, praising and further, reinforcing the positive behaviors they practiced. For example, I may get heated when I discover my niece has performed a certain behavior I condone; however, there have been times when she has done a positive behavior and it goes undetected because it did not require me reprimanding her. She has had to bring it to my attention at times that I have overlooked something positive that she has done. When this happens, I apologize for my oversight and praise her for exemplifying positive characteristics independently. As I reflect on this experience, it is essential for parents to take notice and invest more time in positive character building and reinforcement as a preventive to negative behaviors. When children feel seen and appreciated, they are more likely to engage in favorable behaviors that invoke the

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