Want to make a difference in the world? Then acknowledge the significance of values in it

One week ago I attended Cambridge Day along with my colleagues. Even though my expectations of an exciting day with lots of interesting lectures filled with brand new information were not met, there was still one of them that is definitely worth bringing up. Hence, we come down to the significance of values.

Right after the opening, the first lecture, "The importance of values in teaching English to children" began. Herbert Puchta started it by introducing the term "values" which of course, might not be an unknown word to any of you; however, it is worth giving some more attention, especially if you are surrounded by children.

To begin with, "value" is being able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong and it is usually those values that we develop that shape us for who we are. They help to establish our views and our perceptions on a variety of concepts. For instance, values can be related to morals, to environment, to family, to health, etc. In addition, if we are the transmitters of values, then children could be seen as the receivers which makes it all the more crucial that we take into account the significance of distributing the message to them.

I suppose by now you could see where the issue could occur. Imagine you were a parent and you had a child at the age of 5. Every evening you would turn on the TV and watch a film in which there is a lot of bloodshed and cursing. Then during the commercials, you would go on the balcony, puff out a cigarette while your child is right there next to you, asking you questions about life. Afterwards, you two would go back in and the father/mother would come in. You would start fighting about why someone hasn't done the dishes and then in-between, some badmouthing would take place. Eventually you would return to watching your film as if nothing has happened. Nevertheless, so much would havehappened in the child's mind.

While some parents tend to make the very common mistake of underestimating children's attentiveness, it is in fact quite the opposite. Even though they are so young, sometimes they are quite capable of observing situations much better than we, the adults, are. They perceive so many of our actions and although they are not entirely able to comprehend all of them at that time, it still settles down with them and develops over time. Even if you tell your child "You are not supposed to smoke because it's bad for your health", they are not going to believe it if they see you smoking a cigarette ten minutes later. Perhaps the thought that would run through their minds would be something along the line of: "If he/she does it, then why shouldn't I?"

Consequently, we come to the point that children learn mainly through examples and modelling. Without realizing it, you might be teaching your child some negative values that are going to evolve over time. Every single person has role models. Well, a child has more than you can count. It might be parents, classmates, friends of the family, or sometimes even people they meet on the playground. Of course, there is just so much you can control. You can't be in charge of what other people do around your child, regardless of whether it's positive or negative. However, you can try to show why that negative situation they have seen is wrong.

On the contrary, simply saying "You are not allowed to do that!" will certainly not do the trick. This might actually bring you the opposite results, namely having the child do the exact thing he/she is forbidden to. So what you would need in a situation similar to that is a refreshing approach. For example, you need to find a way to demonstrate to the child why punching someone in school is a horrible idea and it is definitely not going to happen by saying, "You can't do that. You are grounded." One possible way of approaching the situation is through making the child think. Have an adult conversation with them. Take them seriously and let them develop that train of thought that could help them see why something is wrong or right.

To conclude, I will leave you with this. Always consider how you behave as children are everywhere. Even if you are not a parent, you might be somebody's role model and you should not underestimate the kind of influence you might have on shaping someone's values without realizing. Therefore, always try to be the best version of yourselves and to show love and kindness to people since in our world that seems to be the thing we need the most.

I believe it is crucial that the young ones learn all of these positive values early on. Moreover, if you are the kind of person who always complains that everything in the world has taken down the rabbit hole and things badly need a change, but yet you happen to say "Well, I'm only one person. What could I do?", start with this: always be the best version of yourself and help children become better and better as they grow by demonstrating to them how to be more decent and caring people in a world full of hatred. If you do that, then you are already on the way of making a change and I dare add that it is probably the most significant one of all.

P.S: Herber Puchta's lecture was the basis of this essay but I have tried to develop the information from my own point of view and share my insights on value with you as clearly as I can.

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