Teach your Child to Think by Example

"Do as I say and not as I do!" Is this familiar? How many times do we see people do things while they demand something different? A terrific example of this is Kevin Clash who is under scrutiny after allegations of seducing four teenage boys. The reason this story is so shocking is because he has children of his own, as seen on "Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey" (Netflix, 2012) and has portrayed Sesame Street's Elmo for 28 years before resigning last month. (Fox News, 2012) Imagine the impact on children when they eventually hear of this information of a child predator being someone they idolize.

Many of our parents were famous for doing what they tell us is harmful, as well as the reason, "Because I said so." The cold harsh reality is that even without words, our children pick up on more of what we do and say than we realize. This came to my attention when my first-grader approached me yesterday with what she refers to as an "opportunity for me to allow her to purchase candy from school." Why is this an opportunity for me? Obviously she has picked up on certain skills in listening to me speak, while I motivate my children's actions with phrases such as this.

One of my personal idols, Martin Scorsese says, "If one wants to reach younger people at an earlier age to shape their minds in a critical way, you really need to know how ideas and emotions are expressed visually." He's correct, you know. Children will copy someone 80% of the time, if they feel it will get them what they want, despite throwing words at them to do otherwise. Concerning this, actions certainly do speak a lot louder than words. Showing by example is by the far the most impacting method to teaching.