Building an Inclusive Society: Teaching Children Tolerance and Respect - Essay Sample

Introduction

In today's world, most of the communities are made up of people from various walks of life. In order to create harmony within communities, all members of society must be tolerant of each other. People ought to appreciate the ethnic, racial and cultural diversity of their communities. In order to create a society where everyone is regarded as an equal, young child should be taught values such as respect, love, and tolerance. It is the responsibility of parents to bring up children who espouse such values. Children learn through observing the people who are in their environment. If parents do not lead by example, then their children will take for granted all the instructions and teachings given to them by their parents. Therefore, parents have a huge role to play in raising their children to become people who respect the diversity of their communities.

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Our societies are made up of minority and majority groups. More often than not, the majority groups tend to look down upon the members of the minority groups for one reason or the other. In the United States, the minority groups include people of color and other immigrant communities who found their way into the country. Given the cultural differences that exist between majority and minority groups, there are bound to be cases of conflict from time to time. The conflict that exists between the minority and majority groups can be witnessed in various social settings. For instance, in cities such as Chicago, it is not unusual for Caucasian law enforcement officers to wrongfully arrest young black men. Within academic institutions, children and students from various ethnic backgrounds engage in confrontations over petty issues. The levels of mistrust among school going children can be traced back to the feelings of resentment that parents have towards other parents who are not of the same racial or cultural background as them.

Due to the migration trends in most parts of the world, the concept of diversity in residential areas, as well as academic institutions, is inevitable. The inevitability of diversity in our communities has empowered members of minority groups to stand up for themselves in the fight for equality and equity. For a very long time, members of the minority groups have been denied access to certain opportunities that were a preserve for Caucasian people and other majority groups. Some of these opportunities include lucrative employment opportunities and admission into Ivy League universities. Over recent years, the fight for equality has culminated into Affirmative Action. The government has had to provide more opportunities to members of the minority groups in academic institutions and civil employment so that they can be empowered socially and financially like the other members of majority groups.

Through Affirmative Action, more people of color have been admitted to prestigious schools that offer tertiary education. Such endeavors have not been fully embraced by some people. For instance, Caucasian students harbor feelings of prejudice towards academically gifted students from minority backgrounds who have been accepted into elite schools. It is the duty of parents to teach their children that intelligence has nothing to do with skin color. Instead of picking on bright students, parents should encourage their children to befriend them so that they can be able to learn from them. Children are social beings by nature. When they are taught to socialize with their peers who come from backgrounds that are different from theirs, they will grow up knowing that racial discrimination is a vice that should be shunned since it distorts the very foundation in which societies are built. This way, when the children go to universities and colleges where they are likely to meet a more culturally diverse demographic, they will know how to interact and socialize without offending people. When the same children get into the job market, they will be able to avoid racial bias and discrimination that is currently prevalent in the employment sector.

Racial discrimination is not only practiced along corridors of learning institutions and in boardrooms of corporate institutions. It is widely evident in social places such as street walks, restaurants, train and bus stations, shopping malls and so much more. It is not unusual for some adults to be suspicious of other people. Whenever a person of color approaches Caucasian people, there are those who will discriminately keep their distance for fear of being attacked and robbed of their belongings (Staples, 143). Whenever parents see such incidents taking place around them, they ought to call out their fellow adults. By doing so, they will teach their children that certain stereotypes are ill-informed. When a child sees two adults of different ethnic, racial, cultural or sexual background interacting amicably, they will be able to understand that humanity transcends beyond the social constructs of race, ethnicity, and gender. People ought to feel comfortable within their own environment. Whenever people are racially discriminated along the streets and jewelry stores, they will develop a certain innate fear of suspicion and fear. Such feelings will be projected onto other people through acts of violence (Staples, 142). Parents ought to teach their children how to deal with such feelings so that they do not commit transgressions against other people.

More often than not, people tend to show respect and love to people who they perceive as being more successful than them. Regardless of their cultural or racial backgrounds, celebrities such as musicians and movie stars are accorded respect in all societal settings. Novelists who have written great books are also appreciated by all and sundry during their book reading events and book tours (Gay, 1). It is important for parents to educate their children that respect should be accorded to every Tom, Dick, and Harry regardless of their social standing and career success. Parents should encourage their children to find role models who are not of the same racial or cultural background as them. By doing so, the children will be able to acknowledge that success in all aspects of life is not a preserve of certain groups. Whenever they see people of color being successful in academia or sports, they will be able to treat their peers with love and respect since they acknowledge the potential in them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important for parents to instill values such as love and tolerance in their children so that they are able to grow up to be decent people. The notions of racial or sexual discrimination should never be allowed to develop in the minds of young children. If they grow up believing that they belong to a group which is more superior to another, they will end up propagating such behaviors in the societies that they live in or in their places of work. The future of our societies depends on the proper upbringing of children.

References

Gay, Roxane. "The price of black ambition." Virginia Quarterly Review 90.4 (2014): 54-59.

Staples, Brent. "Black men and public space." Life studies(1992): 20-32.