Why Is Moral Education Important For Children, And How Does Drama Influence It?
Children are blank slates in this world that need guidance to navigate. With the increasingly digital lifestyle of the 21st century, all of us require a moral compass to navigate daily life. That is where moral education comes in to help children understand and grow into productive members of society.
It is crucial to offer children moral education and instill essential values. These values will stay with them till their adult life and guide their decisions. Here is everything you must know about moral education and how drama can help.
The Basics Of Moral Values
Whenever you make a judgment about something or someone, you are doing it based on your values. You have a set of morals that you apply to the object or subject and determine if it is right or wrong. So, in simple terms, moral values are the personality traits that help us make decisions.
Of course, each human is a sum of its experiences, which is why moral values can differ between individuals, societies, and cultures. You have to instill moral values in children according to the time, society, and culture you live in.
Why Moral Education Is Important In Children
Here are the top three reasons why moral education is important for children:
- Differentiate Between Right And Wrong
While right and wrong are highly subjective and based on perception, all kids must know universal rights and wrongs. For example, stealing and murder aren’t right, bullying someone is not okay, sharing is good, and kindness is important. All of us can agree to these values despite our culture or society.
Moral education will help children differentiate between these basic values and understand what is right and wrong. It will help them understand the world a bit better and make sense of it.
- Builds Character
Cultivating and applying good moral values such as empathy, courage, kindness, and compassion build character. These values form the core being of the children, and they take these values into adulthood. Such values also become the foundations of a child’s belief system.
That is why moral education is important in children from an early age. It helps build their character as they understand what values are good for the collective society.
- Helps Figure Out Purpose
When you offer moral education to young children, it helps them understand their purpose in the world. After all, when we feel lost in life, our moral compass guides us and reminds us of what is important to us. It also helps us figure out that we are here to help others and have a duty to other people.
We learn to be more selfless as we understand our purpose. None of this would be possible if we did not have our moral values and a compass to guide us on the right path. That is why moral education is crucial for children, as it will stay with them for the rest of their life.
How Drama And Play Influence Moral Education
Drama is one of the best creative tools to instill moral education. Here are some top moral values children can learn through drama:
- Sharing & Cooperation
Through drama and play, children learn the importance of sharing. That is because they share the stage with others and cooperate to create a drama. The activity teaches us to work with other people and learn from them.
- Respect & Acceptance
Drama involves people of various genders, ethnicities, races, and age. When so many people are in a drama, children understand the importance of diversity and that on the stage, everyone is one, despite their differences. It allows children to cultivate respect and acceptance for their peers.
After all, they have to work with other people, and without these two values, they will not be able to do the drama. Accepting and respecting other people is an important moral value everyone must teach children.
- Responsibility Of Actions
Each character in the drama meets their own fate according to their actions. The villain always loses, and the good guys always win. These things teach children that good people with good values will always win.
We are responsible for our actions, and our actions have consequences. In the long run, it will help children understand that each action has a consequence, and they must take responsibility to do good. So, using play to instill this value is a crucial aspect of offering moral education to children.
Final Words
That was your complete guide to understanding moral education for children and why drama is important. Drama imitates real life, and it is a conscious learning experience for children. All types of education can be taught through drama because children are imitators.
So, if you want to instill good moral values in children, be sure to use the power of drama and play. It will help children gain insight and understand the world even better. Of course, you must do it from an early age so children can take these lessons into their adult life and make wise choices.
