23+ Ways Dads Can Use To Raise Their Kids As Peacemakers

As parents, it is your moral duty to teach your kids about the importance of peacemaking in our regular lives. They will surely face conflicting situations in their life, so they must know how to resolve them with peace. This skill can be developed through behavioral changes and constant social interaction. 

ways Dads Can Use To Raise Their Kids As Peacemakers

Teaching them to be responsible

Psychology experts have considered conflicts to be very slippery, and there are three choices in that situation- escaping, attacking, or working it out. The first two can have a negative impact and may give rise to greater problems.

Therefore, teach your kid how they must face a situation like this responsibly and solve it peacefully. Explain to them how ignoring the issue or approaching it offensively can impact their lives. The responsibility must be shared by everyone involved in it.

Teaching them to understand the consequences

Consequences refer to the effect of our words or actions on ourselves and other people. Your kids must always be aware that what they say or how they behave has an important effect not only on their life but also on the others involved with them.

So, if they are hurting someone or ruining a peaceful condition, they are just creating negative consequences for themselves. Moreover, conflict arises out of unwise decisions or actions made without thinking of the consequences.

Teaching them to be forgiving

If you want to make your kid a peacemaker, you have to teach them the value of forgiveness. Rather than being upset regarding an incident/person, it is always better to let it go.

Dwelling on a singular matter for a long time is very harmful to kids as it models their behavior to negative feelings. Because, in that way, they will eventually end up having troubles with everyone. Therefore, they need to learn to forgive someone for their mistakes.

Teaching them to give others space

If your kids develop the habit of being self-involved, they will never be able to and understand others’ feelings. So, teach them that everybody can have a bad day, and they need to feel someone being irritated or disturbed and give them the space they need.

Teach them to be kind and supportive and to be with others when they need them. The first lesson at peacemaking is to consider others’ thoughts and feelings and promote brotherhood and mutual understanding.  

Teaching them to make choices carefully

Often when we mess things up, we don’t bother to resolve the situation anymore. This is the incorrect approach to a conflict. Your kids must understand that they always have the scope of recertifying their mistakes and resolving a terrible fight, for example.

If they are in a conflicting situation, or they are handling it unwisely, they can always retrace a few steps back and think all over again. It can never be too late to make peace with someone.

Teaching them to be respectful

This is also an important part of peacemaking. Conflicts also arise when we are unnecessarily disrespectful to someone. Teach kids to treat people with the respect they deserve. Let them understand what they would feel if they were ill-treated by someone, and act accordingly.

Being respectful means the kid uses affirming words, is attentive while others speak, and never uses rude words or inappropriate gestures. Developing this behavior is also extremely beneficial for the kid’s personal mental peace and growth.

Teaching them not to take offense

This is more applicable within the family. If your kids get into the habit of taking offense at something their family members say for their benefit, they will develop the proactive and then apply it outside.

Therefore, teach your kids to take a resolution of not considering something offensive by judging too quickly. What they must understand is that everything is a concept that we create inside our minds, and if we don’t let something bother us, it will not.

Teaching them to be thoughtful

The shallowness of knowledge and actions is one of the reasons we don’t have peace in our lives. We do not think before speaking/acting. Kids, from a very young age, must know to be thoughtful while doing anything, especially if they are angry or upset.

They must learn to control their temper and not get hyperactive while speaking to someone. When your mind is calm, and you are wise, you will be better at solving conflicts and making peace.

Teaching them to be wise

It is very easy to think for yourself and make decisions that are favorable to you. But kids must learn what is more difficult- making decisions while thinking about others.

Wisdom is something that the kid must develop himself by learning to choose smartly, obeying his/her elders and respecting their experiences, seeking advice when needed, and being respectful. Being selfish takes away our peace very easily.

Peacemaking becomes much easier when we think of others as well as ourselves.

Teaching them the proper way to appeal

How we appeal to a person decides many things. Firstly, having a respectful approach can help a kid avoid conflicts and maintain peace. Rather than whining for gifts to their parents, they can model their behavior to such an extent that parents are induced on their own to buy them stuff.

Teach them to choose their words wisely before speaking. Also, they must learn how to give a respectful response to someone’s words with self-control, a peaceful attitude, and grace.

Teaching them to mind their tone while speaking

Even if kids are right about something that their elders cannot understand, teach them never to get heated up during a conversation. They will just end up being disrespectful and guilty for what they’ve done.

This will completely ruin their inner mental peace. So, while speaking to anyone, kids must always have self-control over the tone in which they speak. Louder and harsh tones will just add flames to the fire of the conflict, and this is not a solution.

Teaching them to listen to their hearts

A kid’s irritation or misbehavior is triggered by their inability to express the factors that are possibly troubling them deep inside. What you need to explain to them is that what they are feeling is a result of their actions, and they have to take responsibility for it, even if they don’t want to.

Often, we forget that the biggest conflict situations we face are with our hearts. So, they must know how to face them and deal with them.

Teaching them to recognize their emotions

Kids may have difficulties identifying the root cause of their troubled minds. Without experience, they may not be able to place their emotions properly, and this will worsen their condition further.

So, teach them to identify their emotions. Let them understand exactly what they feel or what another person does.

Because if they are unaware of the feelings, they can’t do something about it. Also, recognizing the emotion isn’t enough- they need to learn the proper way of expressing it too.

Teaching them to utilize the opportunities they have

No wonder kids are bound to make mistakes. But, instead of brooding over what they’ve done or thinking about them negatively, they must learn to consider the mistakes as a learning opportunity and use them for future references.

We grow gradually, not instantly. If we have ruined our peace in one aspect of our life, we can learn from it to improve the other ones. Failure is equally important, and we can never learn to walk if we don’t fall.

Teaching them to extend their social circle

Building a social circle and communicating with the people in it means your kid is already in the process of being a peacemaker.

Public interaction demands considering others’ thoughts and feelings while communicating, and the more kids do this, they learn the importance of brotherhood and peaceful co-existence.

Guide your kids to reach out to other people in his/her community intentionally and with good behavior and approach. This will also help him/her spread the message of peace.

Teaching them to be accountable

As mentioned already, peacemaking demands acceptance of our mistakes. If we behave stubbornly and try to blame others for a conflict, this will worsen the situation, and it will gradually get out of control.

The correct approach is to accept that we are equally responsible for this inappropriate situation as the other person. This accountability will help us to resolve the situation more efficiently and peacefully. Misbehaving/acting rude during a conflict is never the proper way to make peace.

Teaching them the importance of solitude

If your kids want to promote peace in the outer world, they would have to learn to create peace within themselves first. So, as a parent, it is your responsibility to let them understand the importance of solitude which is crucial for cultivating inner peace.

Try creating a physical ambiance within your house where your kids can practice being with themselves calmly and quietly. Teach them to escape from the chaos of everyday life and spend some time with themselves.

Teaching them to consider a shift in perspective

Perspective-taking is considered an effective way to teach kids about peacemaking. Ask them to change their point of view regarding a specific matter, especially conflict situations. Let them try to understand and feel what the person at the other end may be feeling.

Let them put themselves into the position and decide wisely. Look how they respond and then ask them to choose what they want to do according to their judgment, don’t try to burden them with your opinion.

Teaching them to accept change

Change is the only constant thing in our lives. But kids do not have the maturity and wisdom to understand that change is good. They may be overwhelmed by a major change in their life, and this may make them mentally disturbed and ruin their peace.

So, you must guide them through the brighter side of change and teach them to be mentally flexible. Whatever the situation is, good or bad, they must learn to embrace it with open arms.

Teaching them the problem-solving skills

Many studies have shown that kids are more likely to solve a conflict situation easily if they know how to solve problems efficiently. Help them to develop the practice at home, with their siblings.

They need to learn how to approach the problem and then find a solution to it that resolves the matter as well as maintains peace. Problem-solving can be a difficult skill to teach, but once they have grasped it, being a peacemaker would be very easy.

Teaching the skills of peacemaking

Last but not the least, teach your kids the basic skills they need to develop during the peacemaking process. Teach them the five A’s of resolving a conflict, as proposed by Sande.

These are- Admitting the mistake, Apologizing for it with genuine sorrow, Accepting the consequences as they appear, Asking for forgiveness, and Altering the future course of action and behavior. If you want to experience effective results, peacemaking must be practiced regularly and exercised in every aspect of life.

Setting an example

Since the whole thing is about your kids learning from you, it would be very beneficial if you could rise to be a real-life inspiration for them, and they can learn from your activities.

If you want to raise a peacemaker, you have to be one yourself first. No matter what lessons you give your kids, it would never be fruitful if you do not follow them yourself. As the proverb goes, it is easier to preach than to practice. 

Conclusion

Raising your kid to be a peacemaker is a very difficult task. Teaching them to handle a conflict situation, both wisely and peacefully will need a lot of practice. But, if you follow the correct process, they will learn it with time. Peacemaking will prove to be a valuable aspect of their character and will teach them kindness and self-control.

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