Teaching people that we are all connected, we are all one is not an easy
task. Many people are so mired in their own little worlds, their own problems,
their own views that they are unable to see that what affects one effects all.
How do we teach our children that we are all connected in the face of a world
programming your child to think differently? It starts with you and the family.
Families are the microcosm of the universe. If we teach the children that what
one in the family experiences, they too experience and are affected by it.
Discuss with your children the following scenarios:
If one child breaks his leg, all are affected. The child might not be able
to do his chores for a time and others have to pick up the slack. The child
might be in pain and cranky. How does that affect others? What about when the
child goes to school? How are his classmates affected? The teacher?
What if one child gets in trouble for bad behavior? How does that affect the
family? The anger and tension it creates has a way of creeping over to every
family member. Even the dog feels the change in the energy. Children have to
realize that their decisions have consequences not only for them but for others
as well.
What if a parent loses a job? Or their work requires the family to move?
What if a family member becomes seriously ill? Ask your children examples of
how something someone else has done has had an impact on their life. By getting
their input it becomes more of a discussion and less of a lecture.
I find teaching this concept to be daunting especially when trying to reach
teenagers who have been taught by society that it is ok to be selfish, to care
only for the moment. Isn't that what the phrase YOLO is all about? It doesn't
matter what you do as long as it feels good. You only live once right?
Consequences be damned. My only advice is to just keep trying. Eventually they
will get it.
Once children can grasp that what happens to one in the family, happens to
all, it is not a huge step to take their perceptions to a grander level. Start
with examples of things in their school, then examples in the state, country,
and globally. Use examples to make them really think. How does the decimation
of the rain forest affect them? Oil spills? Wars? Get them thinking about
something other than their version of reality. This is how you raise a conscious
child in a world designed to make them selfish and ego centered.
Namaste'
