The value of role models (children do not listen to us: they imitate us)

There is nothing more powerful than a role model. When Aristotle remarks that man «μιμητικὸν ὄν ἐστι» = “is a mimetic creature”, he means the following: that men follow the lead which takes place in front of their very eyes. That means: mere words and advice may be useful, yet if there is an inconsistency between words and actions, then the effect of words is almost null.

For instance, everyone of us, parents and teachers, agree that reading good literary works is very important for the intellectual cultivation of children. However, if we really want our children to be connected to the world of books, just recommending it to them does not suffice, just advising them about it serves no purpose. First and foremost we ourselves should read, should study, should avoid attachment to images and mobile phones. That means we should show them practically the way to books first as an image (i.e. they should often see us reading) and then we should give them advice which in that case will be of importance and it will motivate children to imitate us with many success possibilities.

The acquisition by a child of the good habit of reading beneficial and edifying books constitutes an excellent way of recreation yet it is similar -especially in our times- to a delicate flower –i.e. something beautiful but hard to achieve andassailable in the same time. In homes where television, mobile phones, tablets, andvideogames prevail it is nearly impossible that love for reading will burgeon. Let’s not fool ourselves: firstly, we, parents, should forge the appropriate circumstances, the appropriate surroundings in our homes and generally in our children’s everyday life, we ought to protect them from modern-times dependence on technology, we ourselves should become readers so that we have a serious possibility to inspire love for reading to our children. And that’s all because children do not listen to us: they imitate us!

Γεννήθηκε στή Θεσσαλονίκη τό 1970 καί μεγάλωσε στίς Σέρρες. Τό 1992 ὁλοκλήρωσε τίς σπουδές του στό τμῆμα Κλασσικῆς Φιλολογίας τοῦ Α.Π.Θ. Τήν διετία 1994-96 ἐργάστηκε στό Παπάφειο Ἵδρυμα Θεσσαλονίκης ὡς φιλόλογος καί παιδαγωγός...

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