Do kids know how lucky they are?

[ilovemarkb]

My kids dont realise how good there life is, i would love for them to watch some kind of film or shock documentry about kids or people who are worse off than them, just to make them realise. Christmas is so commercialised and seems to have lost its true meaning. How can i make them appreciate how easy there lives are?

[dot.hawkes]

turn the electric off, take thier Wii or PS2 away, send then to the shop with 50p for a loaf of bread and a tin of beans and tell them that's their tea.

[andy-hughes]

You can't easily.

Appreciation of circumstances is an adult perspecitve, and children lack the mental processes to empathise with people who have less than they do.

Children are entirely egocentric, which feels like an anti-cosical character trait when observed from an adult perspective, but it is entirely their nature and part of the maturation process.

It doesn't hurt to remind rthem now and again of those less fortunate, but to make the fact that you provide a nice life for them which they apparently fail to appreciate, into something for which they are to be blamed, will only cause confusion and unhappiness.

They will learn - we all do.

[ilovemarkb]

thankyou, my sister.s told me to make them watch the dvd "angela.s ashes" thankyou

[annie0000]

Hi,

My kids think it is deprevation that I had only black and white tv when I was a child, so I know where you are coming from!

We sponsor a child now and I think that it is starting to sink in. I think it is a bit difficult for them though at age 7 and 6, 'cos they can't understand why santa doesn't just give the children in Africa lots of things at Christmas. Bit hard trying to explain that one without giving the game away.

I would definitely consider a sponsor child though, we pay and I deduct �1 each a month from them from their pocket money, so that they feel that it is their money that is being used. My company also pay half the cost, so it might be worth investigating to see if your employer (if you have one) has a charity matching scheme.

[jake-the-peg]

Do you and I realise how lucky we are?

We live in a largely peaceful country wher law and order largely prevails without having to bribe policemen. There is enough food and we all get clean water from the tap without even thinking of what it takes to get it there.

If we get hurt or ill we have a national health service which will treat us without checking our wallet for an insurance card.

And everybody in the News thread is free to whine about the Government without worrying that there might be a knock at the door at 2am.

Truth is that you and I were born to such things and forget about how lucky we are. In the same way our children are also born into an environment and believe it to be the norm.

So before you take it all away to make them think how lucky they are, stop and think how much you'd appreciate the Electricity company shutting you aff for a week so that you'd appreciate them.

[zebra]

Thankfully, through not always having the money to spoil my children rotten, my 8 year old daughter has a really lovely attitude towards money and material things, (although I don't want her to worry about things at her age). She gets enough for birthdays and Christmas as does her little brother, but she truly appreciates things and never expects. She is grateful for what she gets.

She gets some pocket money and when she had saved up a bit I asked her what she wanted to spend it on. She said that the NSPCC advert made her feel sad, so we set up a direct debit and pay some each month between the both of us.

She makes me proud when I hear some of the kids in her school demanding everything and often getting it.

[wiggal]

I know its a bit late now, but there are the shoe boxes that you can fill with little things to send to kids in 3rd world countries?
I remember when I was a lot younger, helping my mum to fill a couple up and my mum telling me about their being kids who dont get any thing and just simple things like a pack of wax crayons and a small notepad is more then they have ever had before.
Cant remember what age I was, but made me think!

[sazzle17]

okay, this is coming from a 17 year old's point of view.
we all take things for granted sometimes. especially us kids!
but there are times when i, personally just take a look at what i have and appreciate it that way.
the things that i love most in my life is my family, which aren't very close and i envy those who have close families.
especially my boyfriend who has a nan who he can go and see whenever he likes. i cant. my grandparents live near brighton and im all the way up in the midlands.
i think we take for granted the things that don't have any bad side affects on us. if that makes any sense. like having money. if we have it, its great. if we dont have it, its not so great and we appreciate money more if we didnt have it.
it might be a good idea to get your kids to make a mind map of all the things they appreciate in life, even if it's silly like having a bed. get them thinking about how the third world live.

it might help.