Joel Beeke explains in this video that when a child says that they're sorry for doing something and there is no fruit to repentance, you as a parent should encourage your children to not merely say words but to ask God to help them truly repent and pray for repentance.
We need to tell them that God alone can give true repentance. You as a parent ought to show your children what repentance looks like. It should be easy for a parent to come to a child and repent to your children. We as parents need to humble ourselves and be able to confess our sin to our children.
Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV) - "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
