There are so many ways for us to show dependability in our life. In every role that we have in life, there are others that are expecting us to be there for them or to accomplish tasks we have promised to complete. Think about some of the roles you and I play in our life.
- Family roles: as a mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt or uncle or grandparent. All of these functions in life have expectations, though they may hold different degrees of importance in families.
- Friendships: Being known as dependable to our friends may include helping them when needed, being on time for dates, standing up for their rights.
- Business or Employee: Our employer or employees have expectations like, being paid on time, completing tasks with excellence, doing what we say we would do. When we are dependable at our work, we are trusted with more responsibilities.
For our students and children, learning to be dependable is critical to their success in life. Where they learn to be dependable is primarily from their parents. When a child feels and sees that they have trustworthy adults in their life, it creates a feeling of safety. When children feel safe, they learn more efficiently, conduct themselves socially more appropriately and have fewer behavior problems.
Our job as caring adults is to give that kind of dependable foundation and boundaries that create safe feelings for the children in our sphere of influence. Let’s all of us be the kind of people that our children can count on consistently and without fear or reservation.