Lazy Kids?

[Sinbian]

What is the cure for laziness? Sometimes even punishing kids doesn't work, but that is only my last resort. What do you do to motivate them and make them realize they must fulfill their duties?

 

[Andersson]

We have always been a little on the tough love side, sitting down (age appropriate of course) to explain what happens to the body when its lazy works wonders. We did this many years ago with our oldest and she learned very quick the bad things that can happen with a body when its out of shape. How old are your own kiddies?

 

[Timothy]

I think the best cure for laziness is to lead by example. We've never exposed our family to a lazy lifestyle, so being physically active and staying on top of things is the only way they know.

 

[Lorenzo]

We always stress the importance of team work in our home. The kids help out in the household chores without complain because they know that if everyone does his or her share, work becomes so much easier for all of us.

 

[Clay]

Take away what the kids love most. TV, phones, friends, gaming systems and whatever else your kid likes. When they stop being lazy, you can gradually introduce those things back into their life, but have time limits on them. When I was young and did not want to do anything, my parents took everything out of my room. I mean everything! My bed was the only thing left and I learned to stop being lazy real quick!

 

[Sinbian]

Setting an example is the best practice in my opinion. Our kids are still young, around 10 years old but they need to understand how things work and that having duties is a healthy way of life.

 

[joeldgreat]

One simple technique of grounding the kids due to their laziness would be depriving them of the stuffs they love most (TV, computer, mobile phones, etc.). A one week without TV nor computer would already be a hard punishment for them. It works fine with my kids in which they already learned their household chores and already part of their habits.

 

[Don]

We haven't really had a problem with our son (yet), but we took our daughter's phone away from her one time after she decided to test the boundaries on how much she could get away with. I'm not sure if the week was longer for me or for her. Now, a reminder of what we did last time is usually enough to get her up out of the chair.

 

[Babar]

Taking away privileges, showing them tough life and generally making their lives boring and "miserable" will cure any laziness in a hurry. Laziness is a habit, not a personality point!

 

[Jack]

Instead of avoiding a punishment, maybe they need incentive to move towards being productive. Having challenging but attainable goals and measuring progress might be a good strategy.

 

[Betterman]

Lead by example is the perfect cure for laziness. It's fine to have a lazy day, but most days should be spent doing something productive.

 

[HappyDad]

When my kids start acting lazy and not wanting to help around the house, I add more chores to help them work out the laziness. Seems to do the trick.

 

[meowcow]

I agree. How our kids act is mostly dependent on what they see in parents. If parents always speak about being a certain way, but do something opposite, then it is not only confusing, but will also make kids lose trust in parents and will make it harder in the future when parents try to give them helpful advice.

 

[writer811]

I use a rewards system. The kids get snacks or a new toy every week for completing chores. If they don't do anything, then they get meals and that's it. No toys, no snacks and no sanctioned playtime. But that never happens.

 

[JRDeep]

finding a passion negates laziness. Feeling strongly about a goal, or general activity will breed an active lifestyle. Getting a kid to think about the outcome of what they have a passion for will go a long way to them being more active.

 

[flfsurveyor]

No such thing as 'lazy' kids - just unwilling to do chores

First, we have to differentiate lethargy from unwillingness to do chores. Lethargy is the inability to do anything due to physical malaise. We might call the kid 'lazy' when in fact the kid is already manifesting symptoms of a psychological or medical condition. Give a kid who is slumped on the couch watching TV five bucks and tell him/her to go to the arcade and he/she will be out the door in a flash. Tell the same kid to go to the store and buy groceries and his/her butt will weigh a ton, even if you give him/her six bucks. The key really is upbringing. You should start them young. As soon as they can, they should be asked to do simple chores like putting away their toys, helping in setting the table, etc. Always, show your appreciation - thank them for helping out, show them how happy you are. Perhaps, you may give them a treat. But not always, lest they begin to think of the treat as payment or bribe. Make doing the chores fun, if you could. For older children or teens, then a sit-down may be needed. Say that each member of the family has a role to do. Yours, as father, is to earn the money for the family to spend on theirs needs and their role is to help you by doing the chores. I was left with 4 kids by myself when my wife passed away. She raised them well. I did not have to resort to 'tough-love' to get them to help out.

 

[ashmonn]

I think that the absolute cure for laziness is for you to make your child connect their behavior with actual consequences. It is one thing to tell a child that they need to get good grades so that they can get a nice job later in life, but is another thing to tell a child that if they don't get good grades they won't be able to do something that they like to do right now. In essence, you have to take away privileges when they don't perform the way you would like them to. You will then see them putting in more of an effort to comply with your wishes.

 

[makingloot]

We have always been a little on the tough love side, sitting down (age appropriate of course) to explain what happens to the body when its lazy works wonders. We did this many years ago with our oldest and she learned very quick the bad things that can happen with a body when its out of shape.

 

[joeldgreat]

Or you can take the reverse psychology as an alternative approach. It may work sometimes when I tried it with my kids. But not always. Anything they do which you fell is bad will not be tolerated but instead encourage them to do it. Sometimes, they will realized that it is bad for them and they would eventually lessen it or change the habit. But as I said, you should still watch them carefully for both the positive change or not.

 

[FrankSinatra]

Tell them that if they want the TV, Xbox, PS3, Facebook, etc then they have to earn it. Did you do your homework? Did you take out the trash? Did you go outside and play for 2 hours today?

Yes? Then you can check your Facebook. Pretty soon they get accustomed to it and will do those things on their own.