Several weeks ago, I participated in an Exploration in Ethnicity training program organized by OnePeople. A fellow classmate shared a quote that resonated with me; she said “the way to raise a racist child is not to speak about color.”
I discovered Xavier Rudd’s song “Better People” recently, and felt it added a lot of value to my perceptions on children development.
“And our children keep growing up with
what they know from what we teach
and what they see
And it’s only a question of the time we have
And the lives that our children will lead
they can only keep growing up with
what they know from what we teach
and what they see”
-Xavier Rudd
I thought of one of my favorite child development theories is Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development. The theory speaks about the development dilemmas people have to go through to be an adult, however we don’t overcome a struggle this reflects on our behavior.
Psychosocial Stage 1 – Trust vs. Mistrust
Psychosocial Stage 2 – Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Psychosocial Stage 3 – Initiative vs. Guilt
Psychosocial Stage 4 – Industry vs. Inferiority
Psychosocial Stage 5 – Identity vs. Confusion
Psychosocial Stage 6 – Intimacy vs. Isolation
Psychosocial Stage 7 – Generativity vs. Stagnation
Psychosocial Stage 8 – Integrity vs. Despair
Reflecting on the list, I thought of how many children learn bad behavior through parents, teachers and society members who are struggling to overcome their own challenges.
Perhaps this is another opportunity to share that what’s important is for us to find inner peace in our self and quiet the echoes that tells us otherwise.
To raise happy children, we must be happy ourselves. To create a peaceful world lets strive to find peace in ourselves.
