Teaching Your Child Equality

Equality is the sense of treating everyone fairly and respecting each other’s civil rights, freedom of speech and equal opportunities. There should be no discrimination on the basis of a person’s identity like, sex, race, age, caste or class, income, language, religion, opinions or disability. It is one of the most important values that you can give to your child. Teaching your child equality will make the world a better place.

Parents should themselves believe in equality, if you want your child to believe it too. And like we have said it repeatedly that parents are their child’s role model. You have to model and demonstrate the examples of equality in front of your child, let your child experience how equally you are treating people and situations.

Expose your children to the practice of treating everyone equally. Take them to Parks to play, and let them play with anyone they want to. Parents should not classify and discriminate their children’s playmates by their race, religion or wealth. By doing this you will be unknowingly planting a seed of discrimination and inequality in your child’s brain.

Take your child to marketplaces, or shopping groceries. Greet everyone you meet and talk nicely to them, specially the people who are working for you, may they be your Maid, Babysitter, Gardner, Park caretaker, Grocery vendor or a Security guard, and teach your child to greet them too. Teach them to be kind, give compliments, and be empathetic and be non-judgmental. Your child should get the straight message to treat everyone equally. Do not ask anyone their cast, creed or ethnicity in front of your child, and if you come to know such details about anyone, don’t react. Remember that your children are watching, teach them to accept and celebrate the differences.

Make it a point to teach your child about the different races and kinds of people living in this world by taking them to a different neighborhood or show them photos and videos of the children of different race and religion playing together and getting along. Educate them about their contribution to the world. Teach them that everyone is beautiful in their own way and no race is superior to any other. Try to create more diversity in your life, take your children to attend multicultural events where you can meet all different kinds of people. Educate your child about the rights of the poor and animals, that the world is theirs too. Take them to the events of an organization that advocate for endangered species or a health care camp of the NGO providing affordable health care. Know the causes your kids care about and support them in it.

Not everyone is created equally, some are born rich while others are poor, and some are healthy while others are disabled. Teach your children the importance of giving everyone equal and fair opportunities.

“By raising kids who value equality, you are investing in a better future for everyone.”