Good Citizenship
By Rexanne Mancini

Being a Good Citizen

Whenever I have a parent teacher conference, I make it a point to ask if my child is a good citizen. Yes, I’m concerned and interested in their grades and if they follow classroom rules. I am just more interested in their ability to be good citizens, to be a positive influence on their peers and to respect the classroom and their teachers. This, for me, comes under the header of citizenship.

An example of a child being a good citizen could be any of the following:

Ø     Helping a classmate who is having trouble understanding a math equation that they have already mastered.

Ø     Inviting a new kid to have lunch with their group of friends.

Ø     Showing compassion and friendship to another child who is sick or frightened.

Ø      Standing up for a victim of bullying.

Ø     Turning in schoolwork on time and done to the best of their ability

Ø      Helping the teacher quiet an unruly class.

Being a good citizen is as simple as showing respect and compassion for others, learning to share, as well as taking care of their own business with as little fuss as possible. 

Our children will learn citizenship in school more than anywhere else, considering they will be among peers, teachers and administrative staff and will need to learn to socially interact well with all types of people who are physically and emotionally different than their own family. Learning to get along with a variety of people in a positive manner will be one of the most important lessons they take with them into the rest of their lives. 

How do we teach our children to be good citizens?

For me, teaching children compassion is one of the key principles to raising kind and loving people. When children are very young (up to age six or seven) they easily learn how to behave. Once they know the “rules” they will follow them because they don’t know any other way. If we teach them early to be considerate of others, to be kind to all living creatures, to respect the privacy and property of others and to be honest and personally accountable, they will make good citizens in school and in the world. 

A straight A student who bullies other children or is cruel to small animals is not someone I would consider a good citizen. Neither is a sweet and caring child who regularly slacks off on his/her schoolwork and fails most classes. Being accountable means taking responsibility for our work and getting it done. Children who learn these qualities at home before being tossed into the school system will fare much better than those who show up to kindergarten without a clue.

Being a good citizen outside of school equates to a person who is a contributing member of society, not a burden. A child who learns to pick up their trash and throw it in the nearest trash can instead of tossing a fast food wrapper on the ground, who instinctively helps another person who is struggling with a door or an armful of packages is a good citizen and one who will be welcome wherever they go. A good citizen also respects rules, speaks up when confronted with a wrong and generally makes the world a better place.

Copyright - 2010 - Rexanne Mancini

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Rexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters, Justice and Liberty. She is a novelist:The Catasy, freelance writer and maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com – http://www.rexanne.com -Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne’s Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html

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