We as a family treat everyone the same. We have not taught our kids to discriminate against anyone. We focused on developing an awareness and commitment to stopping discrimination before they had a chance plague our family. We already know how important it is to foster values of diversity early on and create opportunities for children to interact in inclusive environments. It takes a village to raise a child, everyone in contact with a child leaves an impression on that child, and therefore, the whole is greater than the sum. Each child takes a little bit of the puzzle and puts it together for themselves. It’s our job as parents to furnish the pieces.
The following is just an example of something we had to deal with at a family and friend gathering at our house:
We all get together on the weekends, everyone is welcome. We BBQ, shoot pool, swim and partake in many fun activities. One night one of our gay friends came over and one of the other guests let it be known that he did not want to associate with “gay people”. He said a few more choice words but I will not repeat them. I over heard him say, “I don’t want to get my glass mixed up with his because I might catch something”. I politely asked him to leave. Our house is a neutral zone and I intend to keep it as such. We all want to have fun and we have no time for ignorance and disrespect. Stop the vicious cycle.
Tammy, you definitely hit the hammer on the nail. I love how you talk about the impressions we leave on children. Also, yes it is sad how people still react towards to gays, disabled, elderly, children. I swear the media ruins it for us by the way they portray these people who are a part of our overall existence. If it was not for a mixture of races and differences in our abilities we would be pretty boring. Thank-you for your wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for asking someone to leave your party because their attitude towards others did not reflect the values you instill in your family. If more people were bold enough and confident enough to speak out in situations like this, children would not grow up seeing negative attitudes towards one another since they will have witnessed someone saying that such behavior is unacceptable. It takes each and every person to create society and help leave a footprint in each person's life so we need to value that we are all different and unique. Great post!
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