Question of the Month: What Are Our Children Learning From Candidates?
QUESTION
What can parents do to ensure their children are not learning things such as judgment, hate, and name-calling from our presidential candidates?
ANSWER
This is a major concern and one that I have been addressing in my presentations to the youth I often speak to here in the US and internationally. The first and foremost lesson is to openly discuss these issues with children and youth. It is important to delineate the lies and disgorging remarks that are racist, sexist and violent as exactly that.
Speak the truth and role model the ethical values of empathy, compassion, inclusiveness and forgiveness as the ingredients to foster meaningful and loving relationships. Any derogatory, negative, disrespectful comments should be labeled exactly what they are specifically, and as an antidote teach and role model positive and uplifting values. After all, our children do what we as parents, teachers and responsible adults in their life role model.
One of the principles of nonviolence I teach to students who are becoming leaders that promote peace is: “Everyone including yourself deserves to be respected and treated well.” This idea of respecting diverse culture, race religions and all the other isms is the cornerstone of building a civil society.
Opposing views on legitimate issues can create a healthy debate where we are able to see a challenging issue from different perspective and learn from those different perspectives. This all fosters empathy and compassion. It is important not to judge people if they feel differently about a legitimate issue. We are not always right and having a healthy, respectful and open discussion builds understanding and growth.
The important thing is to remember as humans we are all fallible, and cultivating empathy for our mistakes and others mistakes helps us grow and become better people.
Otherwise we remain trapped in our own myopic views and limited perspectives. Such attitudes impede us from learning, growing and becoming better and more productive people, thus compromising our ability to create a better world for ourselves and others. It is important to remember we are ONE human race!
Posted in News, Question of the Month
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