How to Teach Your Children to Embrace Diversity and Self-Love
“Mommy, a friend at the park said she did not want to play with me because I’m brown.” Hearing this immediately shocked me and was followed by a deep sense of hurt for her. After she nonchalantly blurted this out, I asked her how that made her feel. She replied, “Well, not everyone paints themselves brown.” Her casual response shocked me as I realized the beauty of her innocence.
It was at that moment, I realized that I still had the opportunity to teach her just how beautiful she is and mold her to be kind and accepting toward others that do not look like her. Since that strange occurrence that Sunday morning, I have been actively instilling new values into her.
I tell her to remember her “three”. These are THREE key values that I want her to live by and believe about herself. If you ask her what her “three” are, she will tell you, “I am kind. I am smart. I am beautiful.” This is the mantra I want her to live by. If she is kind, she will be accepting of others. If she is smart, she will be wise enough to take the right path in life. If she knows she is beautiful, she will not allow the opinions of others to define who she is.
Why is diversity and self-love important?
Teaching your children to love themselves AND to love others is single-handedly the most important task we have as parents. Teaching your children to love themselves allows them to have a strong foundation in their self-worth and to celebrate who they are. Teaching your children to love others makes our classrooms, our sports teams, and our society a pleasant, more inclusive, happier place to live.
Here are five simple ways to teach your child to embrace cultural differences and learn self-love along the way:
#1 Introduce them to characters that look like them.
Show them characters that look like them. My daughter loves a good bedtime story. While we have an extensive collection of books, I can truly say that most nights she wants a good old-fashioned bedtime story that I create from pure imagination. Somewhere in between my long string of made-up stories, we cultivated a character named Amelia Mermaid. We describe her as a beautiful mermaid with black hair and brown skin. She is brave, kind, and intelligent and thinks quickly on her feet. Immediately following this incident, we had a good friend create a canvas painting that would serve as a visual of how beautiful Amelia Mermaid truly is.
#2 Show them heroes that look similar to them.
Whatever unique and beautiful features your child has been blessed with, find characters in books or movies that reflect them in a positive light from the luscious, black hair of the fierce and brave Pocahontas to the piercing blue eyes of the selfless and loving leader that is Queen Elsa.
#3 Incorporate media that honors various cultures and ethnicities.
Show them the media that honors other cultures and ethnicities. We truly enjoy all movies with characters ranging from very diverse backgrounds. In doing this, it has allowed her to be aware that there are people that look different from her and reinforce that differences are not only okay but are something we should embrace. Make it a priority to showcase movies, books, and cartoons that celebrate diversity and show characters of all backgrounds as the hero/heroine. If you’re looking for a place to start, The Every Mom has an amazing list of children’s books that celebrate diversity and inclusion.
#4 Celebrate their unique features and uplift with positive words.
Constantly uplift your child with positive words and highlight their unique features. After the park incident, we have made it our duty to tell her how beautiful she is and how we love her curly, black hair. If your child has beautiful blonde hair or curly red hair, remind them how much you love their hair as you brush through it after a bath. If they are a little shorter than their classmates, remind them that this feature makes them special. Reinforce the magic of anything that makes them different. When children have a positive self-image, they will only have kind words to say to others.
#5 Encourage friendships with friends of all backgrounds.
Encourage friendships with friends of all backgrounds. How beautiful is it that even as little ones, our children can learn to appreciate the diversity that the real world will offer? Encouraging our children to embrace other cultures through friendship allows them to try new foods, experience different holiday traditions, and perhaps even new languages. When we inspire our children to be inclusive, we not only make their life better, but we make the world a better, more pleasant place to live.
To recap, here are the five ways we can teach our children to celebrate diversity and inclusion:
- Introduce them to characters that look like them.
- Show them heroes that look similar to them.
- Incorporate media that honors various cultures and ethnicities.
- Celebrate their unique features and uplift with positive words.
- Encourage friendships with friends of all backgrounds.
While we can never prevent our children from these types of occurrences, we can certainly put forth our best effort to reinforce self-love, so if ever faced with this situation, their self-image is built up so wonderfully that they will not have room to doubt themselves. If we teach them diversity and inclusion early on, we can limit negative experiences for our children. We mamas love our children and I am certain we will have all on hands on deck to ensure we foster a kind and uplifting generation!
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