Children are typically occupied by toys and treasures as they mature. Having fun with friends and playing games with family members can make up a good part of their day. But by the time they reach their preteen years, they may begin to take life a little more seriously. This is the time that parents can step in to provide valuable guidance about life lessons.
Start when your child is eleven or twelve years old. Point out a meaningful newspaper headline or comment on a radio news announcement. Choose something that will not overwhelm or confuse her, but an event that shares something about the outside world. It may be a news blurb about a foreign country, such as famine in Africa. Or it may indicate something about the Asian trade market. Make it simple and easy to understand as an introduction to global culture and how other people live, along with problems they struggle with. Brief discussions on these topics, perhaps lasting just a few minutes, can bring your child in contact with the outside world values of economy and trade.
Look for opportunities to talk about other people's holidays or religious practices. Discuss an upcoming Kwanzaa celebration or a newspaper article on Passover if you are not Jewish. Help her look up these definitions in a dictionary or encyclopedia, and discuss how such views are similar to and different from those of your family. Talk about such distinctions in a respectful tone, even when you don't agree with them. Help your daughter learn to treat others who believe and live differently than she does in a mutually honoring way.
Take your daughter to a cultural event that depicts a different group of people that are diverse from a racial, ethnic, or social perspective. Becoming familiar with a different way of thinking or living not only teaches your child about something new, she will learn to keep an open mind toward any new concepts she may encounter in the future.
If your family enjoys a comfortable middle-class existence, take her to visit a soup kitchen or a charity organization in practice. There she will come face to face with people in need, an experience that may help to adjust her view of the society that she lives in and the world at large. If possible, arrange for the both of you to volunteer at this or another organization so she can be part of a ministry that helps others.
Another way to shape your child's life-long values is to model the kind of thinking that you would like her to learn. Let her see you talking respectfully about others with whom you may disagree. Allow her to observe your interactions in helping those who are less fortunate. Model a positive outlook toward diversity and problems.
Children of all ages tacitly watch their parents to see how they respond to a range of experiences. Even when kids appear to shun parents' influence, they actually watch what parents do in a variety of situations. Remember that your daughter is watching, and do your best to represent a healthy approach based on upbeat values that will serve her throughout life.
