Instilling Morality

Who is responsible for instilling morality into our children from a Christian Worldview Perspective.

Proverbs 22:5 states “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (New International Version).  To whom is this scripture directed?  Who is responsible for training children? I believe the foundations for moral developments are first set in motion at home. The beliefs, values, attitudes and actions of parents or primary caregivers influence their children. Christians instill morals into their children by teaching them the Ten Commandments as well as teaching them scripture.

 
The duty for instilling what is right and wrong goes beyond the boundaries of one’s home. Bandura’s Social Learning Approach states, “children learn moral behavior by observing others, called models” (Feldman, 2008 ). Watching others encompasses a vast number of people who have the potentiality to affect the child’s learned behaviors. This is why it is so important for parents to live the life they want to teach as well as be diligent in regards to whom and what their children are exposed to.

  
Other theorists like Kohlberg’s believed moral reasoning is determined by justice and  fairness whereas Gilligan went a step farther and added that it also included caring and thinking of others (Wikipedia 2008). My personal theory is derived from a combination of them. I agree that we all go through stages and the primary stage is focused on “me” instead of “we”, however we all can change and we all change at different rates. It is impossible to put a clear cut time line on when those changes will take place or what can impact the desire for change. Men and women are different and I do not agree that it is right to conclude “that something is wrong with women" if they do not make the same moral choices as men. (Gilligan, 1982)

 

 

References

Ethics of care. (2008, August 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:14, September 4, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ethics_of_care&oldid=232774691

 

Gilligan, C. (1982). In a Different Voice. Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.

 

Feldman S. Robert (2008). Development across the life span (5^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New  Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

 

Author's Note

Written for a Human Development Class my first semester of Grad School at Liberty University.

Reviews

[Blade & Blood (The ..]

You have many ideas that I do agree with here. But, there is a debate that is getting a little bit of steam at a time: Does morality exist? Many would argue that it is best to teach and raise children with a clear sense of instinct; to able to act appropriately and swiftly in the correct situation, and to think logically at any given time.

Religious upbringings are helpful in giving a child a nice start in growing up and understanding the world, but there is more that they will learn along the way. However, there is no sense in pushing ideas in their minds; people forget that even children have minds of their own.

At the end of the day, a child's relationship with people, in general, is what matters most.

Thank you for posting this. It was an honor to read and review it.

Ironically Yours, Blade and Blood