Learning to Take Responsibility For Their Actions

One of the first steps in teaching kids to take responsibility for their actions is to foster a culture of responsibility at home. This means that each member of the household is held responsible to an obvious set of expectations and rules. Everyone is responsible for his/her actions and reactions, whether in difficult times or otherwise. The following tips will help you get your kids to understand that they all have responsibilities and that everyone is accountable for them.


A key point of responsibility is knowing what is being held responsible for. This is very important so that everyone is on the same page. It also helps everyone stay on track with the desired result. You will want to start this process by making sure everyone knows what the key points are that they need to be responsible for. This could include but is not limited to, behavior, verbal responses, actions, and other things that go on throughout the day.

Another key point of personal responsibility is taking responsibility for one's own actions or lack thereof. For example, when a child knows they aren't going to get a toy he should be accountable for taking it out of the cupboard where it belongs and taking care of it. While some people think that this is a time for autonomy, you should never encourage or teach a child to be completely autonomous when it comes to taking responsibility for his/her own actions.

The third key point is to teach children to take responsibility for their own personal actions. To do this you should ask them to do something like clean their room or make a list of things that they need to do. You should also let them know that they can't sit on the couch and do nothing. A big part of personal responsibility is learning to take action.

The last key point is not to treat responsibility as an attribute. We all have it and for most of us it is a positive thing. When it becomes an issue in life it usually leads to feelings of blame, anger, and guilt. If these are used instead of taking responsibility, it often leads to actions that are not very well thought out and could cause more problems than it creates.

So, we know that personal responsibility is important, but we also know that some consequences are important too. A big part of taking responsibility for your own actions is to learn to respond to consequences in the proper way. Some people believe that they should only respond to consequences that they create themselves. This usually leads to actions or attitudes that are not very well thought out. Learning to take personal responsibility for consequences lets you acknowledge that you have control over how you handle situations and that helps you avoid the emotional roller coaster that too many people get off on.

Taking responsibility also allows you to be held responsible even if you are not in control of the circumstances that lead to whatever result you are aiming for. Blaming someone else or issuing blame isn't a good way to deal with what you have control over. Taking responsibility means recognizing that what you have done has an impact and that it can be fixed. It doesn't mean you have to fix the entire thing, but it does mean that you take responsibility for it and that you are actively working to make it better.


Finally, taking responsibility for their actions really does go a long way when it comes to learning how to best deal with situations in life. In order to truly learn how to solve problems and live your life effectively, you need to learn how to take responsibility for your own actions. When you learn to do this you are putting yourself in the driver's seat. Instead of reacting to whatever happens, you will be controlling the situation and working to solve it in the proper way.