The Power of Role Models in Children’s Lives: Lessons from a Bu…

On the way to work, I was distracted by a conversation between a mother and her child. The little boy, who wore a cute baby-blue uniform with a school badge, was sitting on the opposite side of the bus. He’s probably going to daycare or school.

“What are they doing, mommy?” said the little boy pointing at the two men, who wore fluorescent vests working next to the drainage on the busy Pokfulam Road in Hong Kong.

“They are drainage workers, honey. You see, they just pulled out the drainage cap there, right? Now they are picking up the fallen leaves and other small rubbish that went into the drainage. Those things can block the channel and cause flooding. The rain is going to come soon.” Mommy replied softly.

“I want to be them when I grow up!” the little boy’s feet were stretched and lifted immediately, looked at his mother excitingly.

Mommy smiled. She said yes and kissed her little boy, “you know what you have to do to be the drainage worker? You need to start understanding the weather. You want to borrow some books about the weather in the library on Saturday?”

The little one nodded with a satisfying smile and lay on his mother’s lap. The merry sunshine shone upon him and his flared, chubby face as the bus drove along.

I have met parents who came to see me asking for help motivating their kids. Their child may fight while doing homework or don’t seem excited about going to class or school, resulting in grades dropping. It can happen anytime between kindergarten and high school or even after. Parents find it helpless, like mission impossible. However, as the conversation between mother and child proves, there is hope. You may need to look a little further…or a little deeper, but that which makes us most human is we can explore.

‘Behind every young child who believes in himself is a parent who believed first’ — Matthew Jacobson