Summer 2010 | Sarcasm

From an early age, children learn the art and effectiveness of sarcasm. They learn it can make a point and sometimes hurt a person. Here is a former GEMS account of sarcasm within her family.

Sarcasm was the norm at our house. While we would often use it for good clean teasing, we would often use it to wound, simply because we had gotten so used to using it. Upon seeing how we were using sarcasm to hurt other family members, my parents put their foot down. We were told sarcasm was no longer allowed in the house. Every time we used it, we would lose allowance or privileges. We also had to apologize to the person we were sarcastic to, which for us kids was not easy to do. We quickly learned sarcasm was not acceptable and our family was able to grow closer because of the lack of sarcasm.

Challenge your family to not use sarcasm for the month of March. At the end of the month, evaluate how your family did and talk about how sarcasm is going to continue to not be used in your house. Encourage your children to use words that build others up, not tear them down.

Want more? Visit the Teaching Values | Archives