Teaching Children About Diversity
We exist in the now but also carry the existence of all those that came before us. We are a product of their triumphs, their joys, their failures and of their scars. They lived so that we can be better. Each generation is meant to better. Each of us is an exponent of the previous, so we must be better and do better.
In the child lies a fresh start, a chance for us and them to help build a future that is better than the current. When we choose to live in a manner not only benefitting ourselves but to also better our children, we are setting the course for a better world.
It is important to teach our children about diversity and that there is a place for all of us on this earth. Teaching hate and discrimination is not true to our essence. Teaching your child that they are better than another simply because of their skin color, gender, race, mental and physical capacity etc is primitive. It harms not only the child but the entire course of humanity as well. It goes against the laws of nature which exhibits the lack of sameness. Everywhere we look in the world around us, there are differences. Whether it be in the flowers, the seasons, the weather, diversity exists in everything. They each serve a purpose but all work together to make the world what it is. If we are to elevate in consciousness and get the most out of this human experience, we must teach our children about the differences in all of us and why they should be celebrated. We must live in love and not fear. Fear is the basis of hate.
We are so interconnected that it's deeper than some of us can even comprehend. Teaching discrimination creates the same conditions that we hate. We all must hold ourselves accountable to teach our children about the beauty in all of us. At the base of it all, though we don't all look the same, we all come from the same creator. Imagine a world of sameness. If everyone looked the same, no beautiful infusion of cultures, it would be so boring. The differences in all of us is what pushes humanity forward. When we come to learn and celebrate these differences, we will be free.
Maria Montessori says: " If we are among the men of good who will yearn for peace, we must lay the foundation for peace ourselves, by working for the social world of the child."