A child’s parents are considered as their first teacher, so it’s important that they are able to teach the right lessons and impart the right values to their kids. Teaching children the right values from an early age is important because they deeply influence all behavior and attitude and affect our decisions and relationships. According to author, wife, and homeschooling mom Joy Mendoza, it is difficult for parents to teach children the right values and character traits if they do not practice them.
In an episode of Teach With Joy, Mendoza talked to former basketball player and sportscaster Vince Hizon and Plus Network CEO, sportscaster, and host Patricia Bermudez-Hizon about their insights on parenting and teaching values to their children. When it comes to the values that they want to pass on to their children, Patricia says that the most important thing for them as parents is to raise kids who will love the Lord and seek to honor the Lord all the time. From there, they can learn other values such as integrity, kindness, and compassion.
Vince, meanwhile, says that the two rules in their household are: obey and respect, as these are two values that they wanted their children to have. It’s also important for them to set an example and model discipline and obedience in their home. On their parenting style, Vince speaks about following the way he and his siblings were raised. He reveals that his mother loved each one of them the most and loved them differently, and they also follow this when it comes to their children.
Despite their success in the fields of sports and broadcast media, Vince and Patricia say that they steer away from putting pressure on their children to follow in their footsteps. Instead, they encourage them to pursue whatever they want to pursue as long as they do it with all their hearts, for they are also doing it for God.
Aside from obedience and respect, other values that they want their children to have are compassion, kindness, and integrity. By exposing their children to orphanages and outreaches, they are able to relate to other people and feel their pain, which helps them be more compassionate and be better human beings, and with compassion comes kindness. Patricia adds that their children will learn integrity through the lives that they live in their home and the persons and the lives they project outside of it.
And finally, regarding their relationship with their children, Vince and Patricia are open to them and ask them if they have done anything that hurt them, apologize, and ask for forgiveness while also asking how they can improve as parents. By doing this, they are able to teach their children the right values while also strengthening their bond. Because of the travel restrictions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, their family has spent more time together and Patricia sees it as an opportunity to get to know their children even more and to become a bigger influence in their lives.
Mendoza reiterates the important insights by the Hizons on parenting their children, which include modeling the values that they want to pass to them, building intimacy, apologizing when needed, and understanding that the Word of God is the foundation of the right values. For more parenting tips, you can watch episodes of Teach with Joy or visit Plus Network on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
