Children Are The Future

The late Whitney Houston once sang:

"I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way

Show them all the beauty they possess inside

Give them a sense of pride to make it easier

Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be."

My approach to implementing more kindness, inclusivity, diversity, and all-around love for humankind may not seem glorious or even significant in scale. By many people's standards, it might even just be the status quo or just another job as a parent. But throughout the past few years, my focus on making the world a little brighter is through my daughter.

Wise Beyond Her Years

When she came into this world seven years ago, I already knew she was special and that she would be a little beacon of light in this world. But I also had worries for her. Some of my loved ones voiced concerns about being bullied because she is a biracial child. Others worried about being taken advantage of because of her gentle spirit. And then, with her first year of public education being held in a remote classroom, the thoughts about how it would impact her mentally, emotionally, and academically presented new anxieties. But, despite all these, my daughter is one of the kindest humans I have ever met. And she never ceases to look for opportunities to make everyone feel included.

And some of my favorite conversations have been held with this pint-sized human. Ironically, they are usually held in the kitchen while she watches or helps me cook dinner.

Once, we talked about respecting pronouns when my daughter told me about one of the teachers in her Boys and Girls Club. She told me that he liked to be called "he," and she was a little upset that others called him "she."

"I just call him 'he,'" she told me.

From there, we discussed how important it is to respect other people. If we have questions about someone else, it's ok to ask. "Most people are happy to answer questions. It shows that we care about them and want to support them," I told her.

The other day, we discussed ethnicity and race. For many people, this can be a complex or challenging debate. It was the remarkability of how the world is so exciting and fun for a seven-year-old because people look different and have different practices.

"Imagine how boring the world would be if we all looked and acted the same," I told her.

"Yea," she contributed, "that would be boring. There would be no fun things to learn, and none of us would have anything special that makes us, us."

But my favorite conversation was during the winter holidays.

As I took dinner out of the oven one night, she asked me:

"Mommy, what do we celebrate?" I told her that we are pagan, so we celebrate the winter solstice and Yule. But, because both mommy and daddy grew up with monotheistic beliefs, we also tend to incorporate some Christian traditions. She thought carefully and then proceeded to ask what other people practice. As she pondered over this information, she informed me that a couple of friends from school, who were Jewish, were preparing to celebrate Chanukah. She asked me what it was, and, to my dismay, I realized I didn't know much about it. So, together, we looked up Jewish traditions and other winter practices from people worldwide. We discussed what we learned and the differences and similarities in winter holiday practices.

Excuses Breed Ignorance

I have repeatedly heard that "they were raised in a different time" or "that is just how things were back in their day ."Phrases like this perpetuate validation that remaining in this outdated ideology is acceptable. My heart hurts when speaking with some people from older generations. People in my grandparents' age range still have a heavy boundary for anything like them. I hear hurtful comments that try to avoid bringing inclusivity and prosocial behavior front and center. Rather than address these topics, slipping into the "it has always been this way" mindset seems to be the comfort zone.

But not all people wish to remain in this fallible convention.

I have swelled with pride in seeing people typically associated with this thinking as the frontrunners for change. Men advocating for women's rights, heterosexual persons standing up for the LGBT+ community, white people standing in solidarity for people of color, and so much more. Seeing this push to break away with traditional approaches and demanding change continues for more people to realize that silence promotes segregation.

Teach 'em While They Are Young

As younger generations are maturing and wishing to move away from these constructs, many young adults have the mindset of "it ends with me." Even better, these younger generations have absolute zero remorse in telling it exactly how it is. And it's getting incorporated in many public programs. My daughter's elementary school incorporates diversity and ethics in its curriculum with a strong reinforcement of promoting healthy mental health approaches. Seeing this wave of change brings a lot of hope that there will be more solidarity and inclusivity as more generations embrace the need to change the divide instilled by generations before. And as these children continue to learn to approach the world in a kinder way, these lessons can be passed to their adults to help encourage them to see things from the eyes of a child: where everyone is included!