An Attitude of Gratitude is What We Need to Instill in Children Today

posted on Feb 18, 2019

One of the very first things that we teach our children is the act of saying thank you for any gift or help that they receive. In terms of instilling good manners in the children, the first words that are taught to them are usually “sorry” and “thank you.” But there is a world of difference between uttering those words out of pure habit or gesture and actually feeling grateful for something. For instance, it is easy to say thank you to the kind uncle for that new jacket, but the real challenge lies in making your child see the reason for him/her to be grateful and happy on receiving the jacket instead of simply nothing! We, at Gurukul The School, believe that this is exactly where the values of gratefulness that you have instilled in their young minds come into the picture.

We, at Gurukul, have noticed that there are certain skills that cannot be instilled or learned at a later age when an individual has already grown up and matured. Gratitude happens to be one such skill which needs to be taught from a young age to ensure that children grow up to be thankful and contented individuals. Let’s delve further into the importance of garnering an attitude of gratitude among the young ones.

Aids in reducing stress

We have noted that one of the prime effects of teaching gratitude to children lies in the fact that it helps to reduce the feelings of fear and anxiety among the kids. Many times, such feelings stem from the thinking that one is not getting as much as he/she deserves or is underachieving and underperforming. The attitude of gratitude makes the children thankful for the smallest gifts received and contented for all of their achievements, and that aids in reducing stress significantly.

Helps the kids to grow into happy and satisfied individuals

Learning the ideals of gratitude early on in life help the children to stay happy and contented all through their life. They do not feel easily discouraged or disillusioned with any setbacks in their life and the thankfulness that they have for what they have received or achieved helps them fare better in the academics and in every other arena of life.

Supports improvement in physical health

According to child psychologists and psychiatrists, stress and anxiety are not something that only manifests in the form of mental symptoms of depression and lack of mindfulness. It even has physical manifestations, more commonly noticed in the kids as compared to the adults, in the form of headaches and stomach aches. When you instill gratefulness in young minds, they are less likely to suffer from such negative emotions that can adversely affect their physical wellbeing.

Improved relationships in life

We believe that one of the major benefits of learning thankfulness lies in the fact that it serves to improve the child’s relationship with every person in his/her life. A grateful child is not someone who takes anything or any help that he/she receives for granted and is always ready to offer the same helping hand to other people that he/she comes across. It makes people more appreciative of the behaviors and mannerisms of the child, and that aspect is something that aids and supports him/her all through the life.

We, at Gurukul The School, regarded as the top school in Ghaziabad, consider the teachings of gratefulness to be one of the greatest values that you can instill in the children to stay with them for their lifetime. Besides, it is never too difficult to impart these ideas to kids as you can even teach them through your smallest of gestures. We always believe in leading by example, and thus, one of the first steps that we, as their mentors, and you, as their parents, can take is to teach them by our own actions. To our young generation, we are the ones they look up to not just for validating their acts but also for learning the vital life lessons and values. Thus, once we lead them along the right path of thankfulness and gratitude from a young age, the teachings are sure to stay with them and aid them in every phase of their lives.