Have you ever made a mistake? Be it to a friend, family member, or even co-worker? If so, do you say sorry for the mistake that you made?

Young children acquire new behaviours through learning and/or observing the people around them, that is their natural instinct. That being said, parents who want their children to have a specific quality have to show said quality from a young age. Apologizing is a good way of teaching children to take responsibility for their actions.

As a parent, of course, you would want your children to have good morals, do what is right, and have the best qualities. This is why people teach their children how to conduct themselves as a member of a society or among their peers. But sometimes parents don’t do as they preach. There are parents who think saying sorry is a sign of weakness, especially to their children. This is wrong. Apologizing can be very rewarding as it relieves someone from the burden of their mistake and this should be taught to children by doing the same thing to them. To make a mistake is very normal, very natural. Those mistakes could be as simple as unintentional mistakes, white lies, or doing something impulsive. What counts is what you do after making a mistake.

Making a mistake and apologizing for it could make oneself feel ashamed of their actions. But with the lack of apology, children would believe that they are incapable of making mistakes, or even that it is unnatural for a person to make a mistake. What parents don’t realize is that if children are taught to apologize at a young age, they would have better development of empathy and they would have a better relationship with their children. Because when parents did something wrong and would not apologize, that could potentially leave a lasting scar for their children that they could remember for a long time. What children would learn from parents who are unwilling to apologise is that people of higher power don't have to apologise when they do something wrong and the people who love you and you love have the potential to hurt you. These kinds of thoughts could create trauma or trust issues that would last until adulthood.

How parents convey their apologies is also important. From a very young age, children should not be shamed for having feelings and their own thoughts on things and to express their feelings. Sometimes parents would discount children’s feelings by calling them ‘over-exaggeration of their feelings’, they act as if children’s feelings are not as was told. No matter how downplayed or exaggerated their expression of their feelings are, do not undermine their feelings and joke about it. This should not affect parents’ deftness in handling their children’s feelings. Which is another point, apologize as soon as possible, don’t take too long to approach your children and express how sorry you are. Children might not understand why you are apologizing so it is important to explain why you said sorry so that children would understand which behaviour was not good and so that they would not do the same behaviour.