“Responsibility finds a way, Irresponsibility makes excuses!” –

Make this year one of the most memorable years ever with your students by giving them the skills for a lifetime on the power of personal responsibility. Introduce your students to the foundational value of all values, Responsibility.

Begin by helping kids understand that “at best we are all selectively responsible” but We are always responsible for what we do regardless of how we feel. We become responsible not by always trying to do our best but rather by taking it one day at a time. Avoid do your best messages they tend to be vague and often confusing to students rather promote daily responsibility.

1. Helps kids recognize the way I become responsible is to Do a little bit better today than I did yesterday.
 Help them see that every day is a new beginning. Also help your kids see there are steps in becoming responsible using metaphors they’ll remember and understand. You can use the bee as an example.

You can be whatever you want to be as long as you don’t hang out with people that tell you what you can’t be!

2. Connect students with the steps in becoming responsible “You cannot create honey until you gather the pollen!” and   “A room is not totally cleaned until you clean the corners”
One of the most important challenges is to help kids develop a Dominant Life Principle and motto built around the theme of Responsibility

3. Consider making A sign stating “If it needs to be done I’ll be the one!” Signs like this helps in building a responsible mind set! You can reinforce their responsibility by presenting them with PRIDE cards to keep the momentum moving toward initiative and responsibility.

Pride standing for Personal Responsibility In Daily Effort

Once you help your students recognize that almost all responsible people put signs in their life they too will understand the importance of creating visual reminders.

4. Work with your students to create reminders to guarantee “follow through” with my responsibilities.

“Kids need reminders more than they need to be informed!” Avoid clothing responsibility as an easy road to navigate but rather a hard road that requires a daily effort and sacrifices.

“Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.” -Sam Ewing
Responsibility while manageable for most requires diligent, persistent and pure determination to accomplish the end results.

“Responsibility is like crossing the monkey bars you have to move yourself one bar at a time!”

5. Responsibility- You don’t always get what you wish for, You get what you work for!
 Anyone that achieves in becoming responsible will tell you the difference that makes the difference in becoming responsible is not my DNA, connections, IQ but rather my belief that “I CAN DO” often it means overcoming the obstacles that I’m confronted with in meeting my long an short term goals.

“Help kids see that the willed future supersedes the logical future, that we are not just a product of circumstances.”

6. Prepare kids with the test they will face in mastering responsibility. I recognize that if I’m growing I will be confronted with obstacles that I need to overcome!
We are all responsible for what we do. What we do we do! Acknowledging what we do is what sets responsible people apart form irresponsible people.

“We judge ourselves by our intentions but others judge us by our behavior.”

7. Guide your students in knowing you are always responsible for how you behave regardless of how you feel! 
Life consist of many challenges and test. You’ll be faced with a lot more test in life than the test given to you by your teachers. If you keep your focus on the ultimate payoffs of responsibility nothing can deter you from achieving your ultimate goals.
 Everbody has challenges in life. Teach your students the importance of listing steps for each goal set.

8. I always need to focus on where I’m going to, not what I’m going through.
.Helpi your children to remain focused on what really matters. There are a lot of things that really don’t matter. Teach them little phrases like ” IDM- It don’t matter” “get over it” “Onward” to counteract them from moving forward in accomplishing their short and long range goals.

9. If all you taught were the economic gains and losses of managing my resources kids would excel in responsibility! All I have to do to fully comprehend the payoffs of responsibility is to chart the gains and losses of handling my resources in a responsible way as well chart what I lose when I’m irresponsible. 
When I save, invest, share my resources responsibly the results are obvious as well reinforcing

10.The ultimate and most meaningful uses of responsibility is how I respond and reach out to others. Help kids increase the margin from myself to other students. You might characterize it as my “Response Ability”. Teach your students through the very life that you model about the rewards and growth in maturity that one experiences from becoming responsible toward others.
” A life is not important except in the impact it has on others.”

Gene Bedley is the author of the Big R Responsibility, California Milken Educator and was chosen by the national PTA as the National Outstanding Educator of the year for his work in Value Based Education.

These 10 principles and numerous more are detailed and presented to teens through the Ambassadors of Compassion R.I.S.E. curriculum. (a 16 week journey that cultivates responsible students.)
 For more information on RISE for your teens visit www.aoclife.org