The Roles of Family Strenghthening Children's Religious Characters

Abstract

This study aims to explore the roles of family in strengthening children's religious characters, particularly in Islamic perspective. A qualitative approach with descriptive analysis was used as the main methodology. The research was conducted by interviewing ten families of the students at Daarul Qur'an Boarding School, Tangerang, Indonesia. The results showed that family has a significant role in children's characters. The findings of this study revealed several factors stated by the parents, including their inability to guide, time constraints, and socio-economic status. The development or strengthening of the character of students in school will work well if the family or parents can play an active role in support. The end result desired through the active role of the family in character education for children, as expressed by the Ministry of National Education, is to become a human being who is faithful, pious, noble, tough, independent, creative, innovative, work ethic, loyal friends, and care about the environment can be accomplished well. Based on the interview sessions, all parents in this study agreed that they should have an active role in their family. In this case, parents have a very important role in the development and fostering of good character in their children. Among the roles of the family as expressed by the parents are as an educational institution for children, a source of love, motivation, and role models. Consequently, this study implies that the role of family in strengthening children’s characters should be in line with Islamic teaching as shown by the Prophet SAW through his good characters (akhlaq al-karimah).