Kids with their own TV watch nearly 90 minutes more television per day than kids who don’t have one.

As parents and caregivers, we can pass on our values to our children through our behavior towards others, through the things we say (or even the things we don’t say), and our attitudes towards various issues. Because values can be complex, though, it is a good idea to openly communicate with children and teens about the values within the family. This can help them to gain a wider understanding of values.

As parents and caregivers, we cannot impose our values on our children, but we do have a responsibility to start a conversation about our values and discuss why they are important to us. We also have a responsibility to listen to our children and respect their values as particular to them.

Talking about values can be begin when a child is very small. It might be in encouraging honesty or teaching a child to care for her health by cleaning her teeth. You might talk about why it is important to respect others’ opinions or not behave violently towards others.

Silence speaks louder than words

Watch a quick video from Slate TV about talking to your kids about sexuality. Look for the video entitled Sex Ed 2.0.

Our values are always with us and may be passed on to others whether we talk about them or not. Often, adults who did not discuss sexuality issues when they were children don’t realize how much they learned from the silence.

Here are some ways of conveying values without talking about them. Which ones do you recognize? Which ones might be either positive or negative?

• Abruptly changing the TV channel when an inappropriate scene or show comes on.
• Giving a partner or spouse a hug in front of the children.
• Confiscating or not allowing the purchase of certain CDs without talking with the child and hearing their side.
• How we treat others in restaurants, stores, etc.
• Changing the subject or telling the child "we don’t talk about those things" or "we’ll talk about it when you’re older."
• Engaging in volunteer work or other community activities.

In this box, please type some of your values that you would like to pass on to the child or teen you care about:

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