Responsibility and Excuses

Responsibility and Excuses

What is Responsibility?

Responsibility is being accountable for who you are and what you do. It is being dependable and trustworthy. Someone who is responsible does his/her best and doesn't blame others for his/her mistakes. A responsible person makes sure a job is done correctly and on time. Also a person who is responsible has a moral duty to follow through and complete assigned tasks shows that you are responsible.

How to be responsible

* Find out what needs to be done and do it.

* Complete a task without being asked.

* Understand and accept the consequences of your actions.

* Think before you act.

* Do your best.

* Clean up after yourself even if no one is watching.

* Always try to do the right thing.

* Follow through and don't give up.

Excuses

Children who see themselves as victims and are allowed to continue that rationale have a tough time achieving the very difficult milestones that early life development demands. Children shouldn’t be allowed to blame other people, places or things for not meeting expectations or completing tasks. In reality, when a child blames someone else, he’s saying “It’s not my responsibility because I’m a victim of that person, label, or thing.”

Parents can also deal with some social situations like saying: “blaming your sister for why you hit her doesn’t solve the problem of ‘no violence in our home,’ and you know the consequences for hitting.” Ensure that you have your child perform those consequences immediately. Consequences for inappropriate behaviors should be clearly stated and understood by everyone before incidents occur. Remember, consequences are the results of poor choices, and not the punishment for bad behavior.

On the other hand, when parents make excuses for their children, it’s a way that they minimize the problems their children are having. Often, excuses are simply the explanations. The parent sends a note to school saying, “Richard wasn’t feeling well. Please accept his lateness to (or absence from) school.” That’s fine. But parents of children with behavioral problems are forced to make explanations every day, and these explanations transform into excuses for the child’s behavior. They excuse the child’s refusal to do schoolwork at home. Some parents even make excuses for the child fighting and arguing with other children, both in and out of the house. They make excuses for the child’s rudeness. Although, some cases are very understandable, for instance, in a case of divorce or parents are having problems, which manifest themselves in the behavior of the children, also parents trying to explain that their child’s unwillingness or inability to perform as expected is as a result of disability or mental diagnosis.