How to Be Responsible - WHAT DOES BEING RESPONSIBLE INVOLVE?

People who are responsible are reliable.  They follow through their assigned tasks and complete them on time.

Even with their limited capabilities, very young children can start learning to be responsible.  "A child's capacity to cooperate begins by fifteen months, and his desire to start willingly pitching in starts at around eighteen months," says the book Parenting Without Borders.  "In many cultures parents begin to hone their children's helpfulness especially between the age of five and seven, and children this young competently assist in many domestic tasks." 

WHY IS BEING RESPONSIBLE IMPORTANT?

The term "boomerang generation" describes young adults who leave home and try to live on their own but fall on hard times and return to Mom and Dad.  In some cases, this happens because the youth has never been taught to manage money, run a household, or live up to daily responsibilities.

Therefore, it is best if you can train your children for the responsibilities of adulthood.  "You don't want to keep them dependent on you until they turn eighteen and then dump them out on to the real world," says the book How to Raise an Adult. 

Next time: How to Be Responsible - HOW TO TEACH RESPONSIBILITY

From the jw.org publications