Teaching Your Kids to Stand Up for Their Rights

By Elizabeth Summers / March 7, 2018 / No comments
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It’s a tricky world to navigate when it comes to teaching your children to be independent. On one hand, you don’t want to molly coddle them and leave them unprepared for life as an adult, but on the other, you don’t want to abandon them completely and leave them to their own devices.

What’s really important to do though, is to teach them to stand up for their rights, especially when it comes to being treated fairly in the workplace. This is even more true if your child is part of a minority group and may be susceptible to discrimination, whether this be at the interview stage or further down the line in their career.

Of course, it’s not just about discrimination. Workplace harassment instances have been rising at a startling rate over the past few years and it’s more important now than ever that children and young adults are taught what is ok and what isn’t. It’s also important to encourage them to act when unacceptable behaviour is experienced.

This being said, caution should be exercised when standing up to injustices in the workplace as acting out in a non-professional manner can have dire results. It’s always best to consult a legal representative that has a solid reputation in the field, like Dolan Law Firm in California, to assess the best way to stand up for any and all workplace rights.

How to Teach Your Children to be Independent

There are lots of ways to go about teaching your children to be independent. Exercises can be put into practice throughout the day and can be reinforced throughout the week to encourage independence and solidify what they know to be their rights.

If it’s something that’s physically possible for them to do such as brushing their hair or tying their shoelaces, give them time to do it. Slowly ease them into taking responsibility of finding time to do it themselves.

Make sure to congratulate and reward them when they do it right. If they do something wrong, don’t scold them, just praise them for the fact that they did it.

Easing Children into the Working World

When kids get to a certain age, they’re going to want to start earning their own money, which will in turn make them more independent (hopefully you’ll have prepared them for this). When young people start working, they tend not to know a lot about their rights. As a result, they have the potential to be taken advantage of in the workplace.

Before they start their job, make sure you see a copy of the contract and read it through with them. Highlight the important parts of the contract and which parts they should stand their ground on. Some workers might be fired by opposing workplace discrimination so teach your children which rights they have and how they can safely exercise them to ensure they don’t face harassment or discrimination.

It may also be worth encouraging them to document their first few days and if they feel uncomfortable with any of the things they experienced. You should be able to calm any fears if there happens to be anything that isn’t seen as the norm in the workplace.

If there is something that concerns both you and them, it may be time to consult a lawyer about best practices in the workplace and to clarify if there is anything that could be made into a legal case.