Title: Helping Children Build a Conscience
Headings: Helping Children Build a Conscience
Helping Children Build a Conscience
When Does One's Conscience Develop?
The Process of Identification
Instruction and Training
Interactions with the Environment
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Content: This is a rather somber beginning for this article, but timely in the sense that it is more important than ever to make sure that in our work as parents, we do our very best to help our children develop a full and operating conscience. Their happiness and self-fulfillment, along with the health of our society, depend upon it. When Does One's Conscience Develop? Before launching into this discussion, it is necessary to come up with some rudimentary definition of what we mean when we talk about one's conscience. Generally, people link having a conscience with knowing the difference between right and wrong, being able to empathize with others, feeling remorse when causing an other's pain, and having the capacity to inhibit behavior that is unlawful or unethical. In other words, we can conduct ourselves according to the basic laws and social conventions of our society while at the same time promote the well being of our fellow man. This definition focuses on two basic categories, one of which has to do with what is right or just, and other which has to do with our connection to others in positive and nurturing ways. So how do we get there? And more important, do we naturally develop a conscience as we grow and develop? This is a question that has fueled the nature vs. nurture debate for many years.