Recently, I went to two secondary schools in Hong Kong to give a talk. During the tea break after the talk, the teachers were very enthusiastic to talk to me about teaching issues. In particular, one of the teachers asked, "How to teach children a sense of responsibility? He said that his biggest frustration in teaching was not in the curriculum, but in the children's lack of a sense of responsibility. It is not a big deal if they do not put things back to their original places when they are finished using them, but if they see that the toilet is leaking or the faucet is not turned off, they will turn a blind eye to it as long as they did not do it. This old historian thinks that this is a serious moral problem, and it is a failure of the educators and the country to teach citizens who have no sense of responsibility. I very much agree with her.
Train children to do housework
The sense of responsibility can be divided into two aspects: one is to do my best in everything I do; the other is to do my best to minimize the harm even though it is not my business. The sense of responsibility comes from the trust of others and from self-requirement. In order to live up to others' expectations, and for the sake of self-respect, I have to do my best. The sense of responsibility also comes from knowing one's own ability, and it is only when one has the ability that one can fulfill one's responsibilities. If you exceed your ability, you will not be able to fulfill your mission even if you have a sense of responsibility. It has been said, "Mediocre people have only one life: life. A good man has two lives: life and life. A great man has three lives: life, life and mission." A sense of mission solves all problems because it makes people persevere. People with a sense of mission must have a sense of responsibility. A sense of responsibility can be trained in life. Even for a very young child, as long as he can understand and walk, he can be given household chores that are within his ability to do, so as to strengthen his neurological circuits in doing this, and so that he can gradually develop confidence and self-esteem in himself.
There should be justice in society.
Whether "I will do my best to minimize the damage if it is not my fault" can be thoroughly realized depends on his social condition. If there is no justice in society, if there is no commitment on the part of the supervisor, and if hard work ends up in dismissal and investigation, and if it is always the case that the higher-ups are attacking and the lower-ups are taking the blame, then as long as it's not my business, even if it's just a matter of "pulling out a hair for the benefit of the whole world," then I'm not going to do anything about it. Another social reason is the abuse of lawsuits, where good people are wronged. Ever since a junior high school student who was carrying a "glass doll" to gym class in the basement fell because of the slippery ground, and the student on his back passed away, the social trend has changed. The student was sued by the parents of the "glass doll" for over $3 million in civil liability damages. After the verdict of the first trial, all the parents immediately warned their children not to meddle in the affairs of others, and definitely not to act heroically for fear of being bitten in return.
The whole family of the student who helped her was physically and mentally exhausted after years of litigation over the incident, and although the case was eventually vindicated, the damage had already been done. Therefore, when Huang Chunming, a writer, fell off her bike in Yilan, she lay on the road for fifteen minutes without being helped to get up. Because nature never gives a second chance to accidents that cause harm to oneself, this is called "learning once," and never doing it again after being harmed. This is the way nature has evolved to save one's life, and everyone is afraid of getting into trouble, which is why no one went to Bless Huang Chunming.
If we want to teach our children to be righteous and courageous, these external factors must be removed first. There is a Chinese saying that "those who know the time are the most outstanding". If they have to go to court for meddling in the affairs of others, can you blame your children for standing by and being self-interested?
A sense of responsibility, like integrity, is the foundation of character. That teacher in Hong Kong was right, citizens without a sense of responsibility are a danger to our country, and we cannot afford to treat them lightly.
Wen/Lan Hong (Director, Institute of Cognitive and Neurological Sciences, National Central University)
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