I know the first question that came to your mind immediately you saw this topic; how then am I supposed to guide them through life if they are allowed to make the same mistakes that could have avoided. The question is relevant, but the way to guide children is not only to help them avoid mistakes, giving them the liberty to make mistakes of their own. But most parents may find this difficult because they do not want to hurt their children. Well, sometimes, personal experience is the best teacher. To further buttress this, here are some few points;
Don’t spoon-feed everything, let them do the trials and errors: Spoon-feeding our children in this context means giving them everything on a platter. Of course, we can spoil them once in a while, but when it becomes a regular habit, then it should be frowned upon. The mind of a child grows up to what they have been accustomed to, now imagine the mind of a child that gets everything on a platter from their parents. Imagine how they will cope when life throws a challenge at them, which, of course, will happen. On the other hand, a child that was brought up with the idea of owning up to the consequences of their actions will stand a better chance of surviving the challenges of life, because they already know what it feels like to fail, to be rejected, and most importantly to pick up stronger.
It teaches the children what it means to be independent: Teaching our children independence has a lot to do with the consequences of their actions. Just as they would be happy to be called out for the best grade or outstanding sporting performance, they should also be ready to accept whatever consequence that follows misbehavior. This makes them aware early enough that their every move has to be premeditated and properly calculated to avoid “biting off more than what they can chew.” The knowledge this imparts on them is that they know they have to take responsibility for every action they take or do not take, which makes them independent.