The flames of discontent continue to be fanned in the midst of backlash from our recent presidential election. I have no intention of writing in support of one side or the other, being as I’ve learned the hard way not to discuss religion or politics with anyone except my very closest family and friends.
No, what I want to tackle this week is the ongoing hatred, disrespect and seemingly unresolvable discord that has no end in sight. More specifically, I want to write about what lessons this past year have been taught to our children and young people. What are parents trying to teach their children about what it means to be open-minded, kind and compassionate — to be civilized?
Stanley Petroff, Hammond: I’m now a great-grandpa, so my wife and I raised our four children in a much kinder and gentler time. One thing we tried to instill in our kids was self-discipline, the importance of respect for others and remaining open-minded. We seem to be living in a “me”-centered world right now, and society has become a disaster as a result. We always wanted the kids to be able to be aware of how their actions and words could affect others, and that there were always two sides to every story; that life generally isn’t always black and white.
Shelly Lane, Griffith: Our youngest, somehow, was born with a quick temper … and he’s only seven! That’s not the kind of adult we want him to grow up to be, so when we began to notice this was becoming a problem, my husband and I started to work with him on anger management. Yes, it can work with someone that young. That old trick of counting to ten before opening your mouth in is something that even young children can wrap their heads around. The consequence for not taking that momentary step back? An age appropriate time-out. Jake has come a long way with his temper.
Emma Krakowski, Dyer: One of the very first traits children need help developing, starting from an early age, is a sense of compassion. So much of what we need to feel in order to become good and decent human beings will stem from that. When my daughters would say mean and hateful things to each, I would make them sit down and we would talk about how deeply words can hurt. We talk often about treating others as we would want to be treated.
LaShauna Dixon, Gary: Kids mimic what they see on television, so parents need to exacting in their modeling of the behavior they want their kids to develop. To expect our children to conduct ourselves differently than we do is just hypocritical.
Greg Mihalik, Merrillville: My son Kevin, 13, constantly was hearing the accusations of a “rigged election” on the news shows. Finally, I asked him what that meant and did he have any idea of how easy or how hard it would be to rig an election of this size. When he admitted he had no clue, together we started to do research on our electoral system. We both learned a lot in the process. Knowledge can be a powerful weapon in the face of ignorance and bigotry.
Debbie Bosak is a freelance columnist for the Post-Tribune.
