Just stop to think of the power that you have as a parent.

With all the non-stop political flurry a few weeks back,

my 7 year old quite insistently and repeatedly asked who I was going to vote for.

Not that he had any knowledge of what any of it meant.

(from seoconsultants.com)

I remember finding out who my parents voted for when I was a teenager.

Only partly due to political apathy,

that decided my vote for a long time afterwards.

It was mainly due to the influence my parents' view had on my own.

Do you ever stop to think about that?

The huge power, the amazing responsibility that we have on influencing our children's attitudes and their future points of views?

Each and every day.

Whether you are talking about the weather,

the awful driver who just cut you off

or your favourite colour,

your children are listening and absorbing.

I always think how sad and scary it is that to perpetuate bias- racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance

(and much more)-

 in the next generation is so easy,

simply because children get to hear what their parents may have to say on the matter.

When hubby and I travelled around Europe 10 years ago,

we visited some Holocaust museums.

One of the most heart breaking things I remember seeing

was a young child's reading book in a display cabinet.

It resembled a normal children's reading book,

lovely bright pictures and large text.

But it was propoganda that was written to teach children how horrible Jewish people were.

I can't remember the specifics

but children were being taught, being indocrinated to believe that Jewish people
were "ugly" and "smelly" and inferior.

(from www1.istockphoto.com)

How could any young child grow up thinking any different

when this is what they were taught to believe?

At this point Goole images offers up photos of young children,

the same age as mine,

dressed in Klu Klux Clan costumes or in homophobic tees.

You can find them if you look.

But I don't want to put them on my blog.

I do hope that I bias my children.

I want them to believe that cigarettes are bad and will kill you.

That acting like an idiot when you are behind the wheel of a car is beyond stupid.

That dirty socks are for the washing basket, not to pile up under the bed till they are in such numbers that they could start a civil revolution.

But I also hope that I can instill in my children the knowledge that,

 deciding to like, respect and love other human beings

 based on their personality

or their sense of humour

or their morals and attitude,

will make them far better human beings than they could otherwise be

if they made the choice based on by someone's race,

socioeconomic status,

religion,

physical capabilites or appearance

 or sexual preferences.

(from http://www.kitsapsafeschools.org/)

A knowledge that it is isn't about tolerating people's differences;

it is about accepting them as the norm.

That is what I hope that I can use my power for.