I think Fairness in itself is incredibly hard to teach as a single trait or lesson. There are multiple other lessons on the way to finally understand what fairness really is.
Those lessons come in different forms:
· How to share & why sharing is good
o With little sisters this one is learnt quickly, often learnt in nursery too!
· Manners, how to be polite and why we should be
o Really important, please & thank you are just the early basics
o Letting others take a seat if the need to
o Holding the door for others
o Waiting for your turn in conversation
o Writing notes of thanks
· Being respectful, why this matters and how to show it
o When something isn’t yours ask before you use it
o If you have borrowed give it back in good condition
o Not butting in to conversations
· Forgiveness, how to accept that people (even Mum) make mistakes
o When a friend loses that loom band bracelet
o When your mum shrinks your fave jeans
o To know that no one is perfect no matter how hard we try
· Team work, how to work in a group & make a difference
o We say Team Work makes the Dream Work in this house, it’s cheesy but when it comes to chores, outings, cooking, baking and so much else I always get them involved and show them that being in a group can be beneficial and fun
· Decision making. How to choose what is ‘right’ even when it’s difficult (like owning up when you’ve broken/loss something)
o Recently Eldest was give a necklace, it wasn’t expensive but it was something she had asked for and after a few days she started to put it in her pocket to ‘keep it safe’. Eventually the chain got caught on a thread, rather than ask for help (because she’d be in trouble for having it in her pocket and not the jewellery box in the bathroom) she tried to pull the chain free. She pulled so much she eventually broke the chain. Later that day I happened to ask her where it was and she told me what had happened. I felt like this was a huge step towards being an honest person. Although she broke the necklace I was proud she told the truth.
There is a bit of fairness in all of those things, they become the building blocks of a trait that will make a difference in their lives as adults and a difference to those around them. Eldest has taken part in many team things like football camp and Brownie’s. This has given a great balance to the structure of her personality and emotional learning process.
Coaches and Brown Owl must always work with fairness and loyalty. They are loyal to thier team/Brownie’s and teach these as fundamentals. This has been a great help in and is one of the biggest benefits of going to team activities.
As we get older our idea of fairness and loyalty change. It becomes moulded by our experiences with HE establishments, with HMRC, with schools when we need to talk about our children, with housing, with bills and with our banks. We want to be treated like everyone else. Even when we are striving to be unique in who we are, we still like to feel we get what our friends, family and bob down the road gets.
NatWest are a bank that have realised how important fairness and loyalty really is to us, and have come up with Hello/Goodbye. If we have been with a bank for 7 years, but Jan up the road just joins that same bank and gets a higher interest rate & a joining bonus then frankly that’s really annoying and unfair. As a loyal long term customer I want the same deals as the new people too.
You might have seen this video that pretty much sums up what is can be like being a loyal customer. You NEVER get the Fluffy Friend.
It’s really worth heading over to the NatWest website to read more about what they are saying Goodbye to! No surprise charges (hello to a text to warn you in advance), hello to a bit more late payment flexibility, hello to fairer credit cards and goodbye to those annoying 0% teaser credit cards that end up on extortionate later on.
I’m working with BritMums and NatWest on this project and have been compensated. All opinions are my own.
