Moral development in babyhood may be considered one of the primal aspects of socialization. It is a process through which children learn to differentiate the wrong from the right based on society's social and cultural laws and norms. Parents and teachers play an important role in didactics morals to children. Teaching morals at a young age tin can aid heighten responsible citizens. Withal, the understanding and implementation of moral values in children depend on the surroundings they are raised in and their physical, social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Read this post to learn more about the stages of moral development in children and tips on how parents tin can help their children larn moral values.

What is Morality?

Morality is the ability to see the difference between right and wrong in intentions, thoughts, actions, and beliefs. Teaching this concept to children is the primary goal of parenting. Moral evolution deals with the concepts of morality that a child learns from infancy through adulthood.

Keep reading to learn about the different stages of moral development in children.

[Read: Cognitive Development Stages In Children]

Stages Of Moral Evolution In Children

Moral growth in children happens gradually as they grow from infancy to teens and older. Let'due south see that in item:

i. Infants

Infants cannot moralize. Their sense of correct and incorrect depends on their feelings and desires. Later on being provided for ix months in the female parent's womb, a infant expects the nurturing to proceed. As a result, their sense of rightness depends on whether or not their needs are met.

  • Hunger and loneliness are uncomfortable feelings for your infant and does not feel right.
  • Being attended, cuddled, and fed feels correct, while unresponsiveness is scary and incorrect.

2. Toddlers

Age: 2 to iii years

At this age, your toddler realizes that others have rights and needs as well. Nevertheless, he is still to grasp the deviation betwixt right and wrong. A anile two-3toddler might show empathy-based guilt and moral behaviors. Depending on the actions conveyed past parents, the toddler understands obedience is the norm.

  • Your toddler knows that information technology is wrong to take away a toy from a sibling only because he might land himself in trouble.
  • While he may not understand why striking someone is wrong, he knows that he will be punished for doing that.
  • Your toddler tends to follow the rules to avoid penalty.

[Read: Positive Punishment]

3. Preschoolers

Age: three to 5 years

This is the age when your child internalizes family values.

  • Since rules and norms are essential for discipline in the family, they go of import for your child too.
  • Your child expects older people, or parents, to have accuse.
  • They understand the role of a "child" and an "adult" and expect maturity to be directed towards them.
  • The kid recognizes that actions have consequences – "If I exercise this, this volition happen."
  • Positive parental direction makes the child connected, and he behaves well. The unconnected child will exercise what he feels similar, unless and until he doesn't get caught.

iv. Kids

Age: 7-10

After the age of 7, children first questioning if the people who concord authoritative positions, such as teachers and parents, are infallible.

  • Your child volition develop a strong sense of what he should and should not exercise. They would want to participate in making rules.
  • Children of this age develop a sense of fairness and sympathize the necessity of rules.
  • They understand children have rights equally well and they filter rules according to what suits them.

[Read: Social And Emotional Development In Children]

5. Teens

As they go closer to adulthood, children start to develop their own moral values, while questioning and analyzing the ones that their parents set for them.

Age: xi-xvi

  • Your boyish will aggrandize his moral horizon and see rules as a set of social guidelines that benefit all.
  • They value rules but also negotiate.
  • They go interested in what's good for the society at large as they develop their abstract reasoning abilities.
  • Your adolescent will beginning realizing that the determination he takes affects others around him.
  • Your teen will want to be accepted by peers and may alter or alter his values and morals that further that crusade.
  • The wheel goes from "I do this considering I observe it right" to "I exercise this because my family does it" to finally- "I do this because this is right."

Moral development is not equally simple as teaching values to children. It is and then complicated that psychologists have come up with theories on them.

Piaget's Theory of Moral Development

According to Jean Piaget, a psychologist whose master work was in child cerebral development states that children go through two major stages of moral judgment (one), (2).

He chosen the first stage, up to seven years of age, Heteronomy, where there is a morality constraint. After vii years, the stage of Autonomy sets in gradually.

Piaget has observed that a child's moral development depends on his cerebral skills, and hence divided the procedure into the following stages:

Sensorimotor phase: Birth to ii years

  • The child understands the world in accordance to his motor evolution
  • He coordinates experiences through concrete interaction such as seeing, sucking, and grasping
  • The child develops 'object permanence' where he understands that an object exists even when it cannot be seen, touched, or heard

Preoperational stage: two to 7 years

  • The child lacks the ability to decenter, meaning that all his actions are driven by the agreement that he should exist provided for
  • Logically inadequate for mental operations
  • The kid's thinking is egoistic, significant he cannot understand others' viewpoint

In the to a higher place two stages the child is still non capable of distinguishing between what belongs to him and what belongs to the others. Hence, he wants everything for himself and is fussy almost it.

Physical Operational stage: 7 to 11 years

  • Does not have the power of abstract reasoning
  • During this process, the child'southward mental representation increases extraordinarily
  • Rapid acquisition of language due to cognitive symbolic development
  • Elimination of egocentrism

[Read: How To Teach Kids To Exist Responsible]

Formal Operations stage: 11-12 years

  • The child begins to reason abstractly
  • Physical representation and mental representation

In the operational stages, the child is able to encounter things from a third person's perspective. He understands the importance of cooperation, reciprocity and equality. This is when he transforms from Heteronomy to Autonomy.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Evolution

Lawrence Kohlberg, a Harvard professor of psychology, has propounded an ethical evolution theory with the below stages (iii):

  • Stage 1: Punishment-obedience orientation: Immature children behave righteously considering they fear authority and follow the rules to avoid punishment.
  • Phase ii: Egoism/ individualism: Right activity is that which satisfies own needs and sometimes those of others. Reciprocity at this stage is not virtually loyalty or justice.
  • Stage three: Skilful boy/ Nice girl: Right activeness is that which pleases and impress others. The individual is concerned about the impression he leaves on others, and seeks others' approval with his good behavior.
  • Stage 4: Police and guild orientation: Right behavior ways doing ane's duty, obedience to social norms for its own sake, and respect for say-so.
  • Stage 5: Social contract orientation: The child recognizes universal principles, individual and bones rights and societal norms. Aside from what is agreed upon as correct, right action is besides about personal values and opinions.
  • Stage six: Universal ethical principle orientation: The right action is decided by the individual's conscience in accordance with self-chosen ethical principles.

Kohlberg termed stages i and two as preconventional morality, stages 3 and iv as conventional morality and the terminal two stages every bit postconventional morality.

Carol Gilligan'south Theory of Moral Development

Gilligan, a student of Kohlberg, has observed that Kohlberg's written report was based simply on boys and men. She had said that women and men differ in their moral and psychological tendencies. Whereas men think in terms of rules and justice, women consider about caring and relationships. So, she came out with her ain set of stages:

  • At the preconventional phase, the child'south aim is private survival
  • Then she acquires a sense of responsibility for others
  • At the conventional phase, the individual is fine with self-sacrifice
  • And so she realizes that she is a person too, and hence the transition from being good to truth
  • At the postconventional, she understands she non hurt cocky or anyone else.

[Read: Tips To Develop Positive Thinking In Kids]

Skinner's Theory of Moral Development

Skinner's theory is based on behaviorism: (4)

  • The outside globe is crucial in shaping a child'due south inner sense of morality.
  • Socializing is a key attribute of moral development in children.

There have been several theories on moral evolution. The crux is parents and the environment in which children grow up take an touch on their morality.

Parents' Office In Moral Evolution Of Children

Children acquire morality from the people they are closest to. Therefore, this is what you tin do:

  • Motivate your child to act within the acceptable norms.
  • Identify and acknowledge of the emotions in the early stages will aid your child know you lot sympathize with him.
  • Praise your kid whenever he acts positively and demonstrates morally correct behavior. This will assistance him know what is expected of him.
  • Your children expect up to you and follow you closely. Then, practice what yous preach and be the function model they need you to be.

In add-on to being a part model and encouraging, you need to teach them the bones moral beliefs.

How To Teach Moral Values To Children

It is non easy to make children understand and internalize the moral values you teach them is non practical. Here are some tips to do that:

  • Explicate the morals that you recollect are of utmost importance.
  • Teach your kid how misbehavior affects others and how it might affect him too. For example:"If you are lying, one twenty-four hours no one will believe you."
  • Talk to your child about hypothetical situations where they will have to assess their thoughts and make a choice. Permit's say, "Your friend is getting bullied, what would you practise?"
  • Teach that good morals take expert consequences.
  • Make sure that you lot, as a parent, go on your commitments and promises, and show kindness to your child.
  • Be an case yourself or your kid is likely to get confused.
  • Make your kid take upwards some moral development activities.

[Read: Child Developmental Stages]

Moral Development Activities

You may encourage your child through several individual, group and educational activities to bring out the best in them. Games tin teach children almost cooperation and equality.

  • Group games, such as hibernate-n-seek, running race, aiming games, et al, encourage children to understand the importance of rules and fair play.
  • Through group games, children can learn that rules are upstanding, and they should follow them non for avoiding punishment, but because they are right.
  • A game of tic-tac-toe is yet another fantabulous game for children, specially for infants and toddlers. Participate in the game to show that y'all are not an authoritative figure.
  • This game helps children learn that some decisions and deportment are in their hands and not everything they do is imposed by someone.

Moral development of a child is equally important as their physical and cognitive development. Equally a parent, you don't take to wait until your child grows up to teach them almost morality. Begin it early, and exist a function model so that they can under the values amend and make them an integral part of their life.

How do you instill moral values in your children? Share your methods of teaching children nearly morality and off-white living in the comments department.

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Dr. Wayne Hough is a pediatrician currently based in the Northern Suburbs of Greatcoat Town in S Africa. He got his medical caste from the Academy of Stellenbosch. He then worked at the Tygerberg Children'south Infirmary earlier completing his pediatric preparation and qualification from the South African College of Medicine. Dr. Hough also holds a MMed degree in pediatrics from... more than

Sagari was a math graduate and studied counseling psychology in postgraduate college, which she used to understand people better. Her interest in reading near people made her have upward articles on kids and their behavior. She was meticulous in her inquiry and gave information that could be of assist to parents in times of need. An animal lover, vegan, and... more