Respect in a family is extremely important. Without respect, the whole dynamic of a family crumbles. A family should always have respect for each other because in both the good times and bad, family is often the best support network we can have.

An article from the website vaildaily.com stated that “Family life is obviously much more than just a group of people living together. In a healthy family, each individual is given the respect and space he or she deserves, allowing him or her to grow, to express feelings and to blossom. Obviously, mutual respect has to start between husband and wife.” This quote is describing the importance of a good family dynamic that originates from the relationship between the people who want to start a family. Without a solid foundation of respect, a functional family cannot exist.

“Respect is about letting each individual in the partnership be a complete person, with his or her strengths and weaknesses”, the article continues, “It is not about control. It is never about put downs. A parent needs to show respect for the decisions made by a child. It’s not about agreeing with the decision – it may even be about letting a child make mistakes and then learn from them.” Allowing a child to make mistakes, and being there to help them learn from those mistakes is a common teaching strategy for many parents. Some of the most important learning opportunities must come from first hand experience. “If given respect, most children will exhibit good common sense in their decision making, probably more than we expect. Such children then grow with a sense of self-respect that will permeate their lives.” Despite what some may believe, children are perfectly intelligent enough to know when authority figures are talking down to them, and not respecting them. Respect will lessen the chance of children making poor decisions by not encouraging oppositional defiance and by creating an opportunity for a child to consider everyone affected by a decision.

In a 2017 article from focusonthefamily.com, Dr. Daniel Huerta further pursues the notion that respect in the family builds upon itself. The article lists several important traits of kids raised in respectful environments:

• Forgiveness and grace. Kids raised in respectful homes learn how to better forgive and accept forgiveness.
  
  
• Authentic humility. Those who are taught respect find it easier to think outside of themselves.
  
  
• Attention and patience. A respectful family environment teaches kids to think about others, allowing them to be more patient and better pay attention to others.
  
  
• Boundaries and assertiveness. When kids learn to be respectful, they can better set boundaries for themselves, while acknowledging and respecting the boundaries of others as well.
  
  
• Trust. Trust allows compassion and empathy to develop within kids, which are vital aspects for future relationships.

Both of these websites signal the importance of respect within the family, especially for children growing up. Not only are the statements very accurate representations of how a family should respect each other in general, they offer some guidance as to how families can raise respectful children.