blog by: kim
Thank you to Jillian for this insightful link that I posted below. This is important. People need to listen up....
..... it often starts with us adults, bullying others who are different. Different religions, politics, races, behaviors, parenting styles, even down to basic likes and dislikes. Not necessarily consciously, but out of habit, we talk negatively about people who do things differently, even though we try to teach our children to accept those same things that we verbally disapprove of.
Be more conscience of the way you speak about others, especially in front of kids. I already try not to judge and to accept humans for their differences *Diversity is beautiful* ...but I'm not perfect...none of us are, however, if we can open our eyes a little before we open our mouths, especially around all of our little ones, maybe we can start to be the change we want to see.
I emailed this back to Jillie, but it bears repeating here. I've always been very sensitive to the issue. As the always taller, smarter (ok, not blowing my own horn, but it was part of the problem), new kid (we moved a lot because of my dad's job), I was constantly bullied and picked on. I've always told my kids that it's NOT OK to make fun of others. I especially told them to go out of their way to welcome new kids, and make everyone feel that they have at least a safe place with my kids (if not a friend). It worked - their teachers have always told me that Eric and Meg are the sweetest, friendliest kids. I've seen them both tell others to stop picking on someone.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely starts with the parents and we can make a difference if we just talk about it.
Kim responded: Thanks for the comment Suzie. I agree about picking on others. I teach emily tolerance of people that are different from us, culture, religion, politics, etc. We have good kids.
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