How to Introduce Children to the Differences of People in Society

You ever hear the expression, the children are the future? You probably have and if you are a parent this expression couldn't be any more truthful. The children will be the ones to continue the societal progression. If a great percentage of children grow up in faulty households then the value of society will take a deep plunge and the world will become an extremely bitter place. It is up to the parents to do their part in raising well rounded children. Raising your children to be well rounded goes much farther than discipline; it crosses over into exposing them (at a young age) to the differences of people in the world and teaching them acceptance. Below are some interesting ways for parents to expose their children to the different people that make up the society.

Recognizing the differences

In society individuals are separated by three factors; their physical appearance, their skin tone, and their culture. It is up to parents to expose their children to all people who fall into these factors. Physical appearance can be defined as body shape (skinny, fat, short and tall) and birth defects. Skin tone can be defined as very light skin to very dark skin. Culture is defined as the way of life for certain groups of people and includes customs, beliefs, and religion. These differences are what separates individuals in society, if parents expose their children to these differences at a young age, the children will grow into well rounded, open minded individuals with a great head on their shoulders. Below are some ways parents can introduce their children to differences in society.

Slideshows

Collect a group photos of individuals with birth defects and disfiguring injuries and place the photos into a slide show that you and your child can watch together. Explain why the people look the way they do. Some examples of birth defects include; cleft palate, /cleft lip, limb reduction defects, Down syndrome and spina bifida. These defects cause people to look a bit different from others. The slideshow is a good way to let your child see these differences on a visual platform. You can use PowerPoint and windows movie maker on Windows XP to create slideshows or you can print out the pictures and flip through them.

People also experience traumatic events which cause them to become disfigured for instance; a burn victim may have severe damage to his skin, a person's legs or arms may have been amputated, or a person may have been hit by a car and because of this has to use crutches and walks a bit differently.

Be sure to let your children know about deaf and blind people as well. You can search for videos on the web that will let your child see how a deaf person may talk and how a deaf person communicates (through sign language.) You may even want to consider taking a sign language class with your child. You can use the web to show your child how a blind person may look and how the blind person gets around daily to run errands. A good way to show your child how a blind person runs daily errands is by showing them what brail is and what a walking stick and a guard dog are. Looking out for Sarah is a wonderful and factual picture book for children that details the important job of a guide dog and tells the tale about how a blind woman and her guard dog walked from Boston to New York. Looking out for Sarah is written by Glenna Lang and published by Charlesbridge publishing. There are so many differences that people around the world have and it is best if you sit down and jot down all of the differences that come to mind.

Don't forget to let your children see the different sizes of people such as fat and skinny and short and tall. It is important that you teach your children not to use words that may hurt someone when you talk about their shape. For instance, fat is a mean word to describe someone so maybe you can replace that word with healthy.

Call around to see if any of your local museums have any exhibits that feature the disabilities of people. Some children's museums set up interactive exhibits that showcase the different disabilities that humans may have and how they go about daily life. Exhibits can be fun and informative.

Introduce your child to different people

Let your children make friends with kids who may have a disability or may have been disfigured by traumatic events. Making friends is an excellent way to expose your children to others and it shows your child that just because a person looks different it does not mean that he or she can not do the same things as them. Your child might grow a lifelong bond with this friend.

If you live in a relatively small town, take your child out into the city where the population may be larger and more diverse. Your child will get to see many different people dressed in different garb and maybe even get to hear different accents, and languages.

If you have the money for it, consider taking a trip to a different place in the world. Stay for a few days so that you can submerge your children and yourself into a different culture. Your child might make a friend there and who knows maybe they can be pen pals and send photos, stories, and souvenirs back and forth to each other.

Volunteer or visit a cancer center or hospital where your children will be able to see other children who are affected by certain disabilities. This will give your children a real dose of reality and will make them compassionate which will open up the doors to acceptance. You might be able to visit the burn units as well.

The key to acceptance is demolishing ignorance and the only way to demolish ignorance is by exposing your children to the people that make up this society and learning about all people. Broaden your child's perception with these ideas and you will be amazed by how gregarious your child may grow to be.