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How to Raise Kids That Will Grow Up to Change the World

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With so many sad and scary things happening lately, now more than ever we need to think about how to raise kids that will one day change the world. With that in mind, read on for some tips that will help you create kind, compassionate, and respectful future adults.

How to Raise Kids That Will Grow Up to Change the World
By raising our kids to be kind and compassionate, we can help them change the world.

How to Raise Kids That Will Grow Up to Change the World

All parents dream of seeing their kids grow up and totally change the world. We imagine becoming future First Moms, hearing our name in a Nobel Prize speech, or walking the red carpet arm-in-arm with our future Oscar winner.

Here’s the thing, though- your kids don’t have to become world-famous celebrities, politicians, or scientists to change the world. Remember, it takes countless individuals working together to enact change. Keyword, individuals.

What does “raising them right” entail? While that may mean different things to everyone, to me it means raising kids who are kind, compassionate, and respectful toward all people. Kids with a strong sense of empathy and a willingness to help others. Basically, kids who will make this world a much brighter place. Let’s talk about some things we can do to ensure that happens.

“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.”
“History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children.”

1. Teach your kids to respect other cultures

We all know that teaching our kids about other cultures is important, but it’s even more important to make sure that they respect them. Part of that means making sure we’re not appropriating someone else’s important traditions. Maybe you have good intentions when you and your kids make your own headdresses to learn about Native Americans, but that headpiece is actually part of a sacred tradition.

If you’re having a hard time imagining the harm of such things, try to think about your own important cultural traditions. For example, if you’re Catholic, imagine how you would feel if someone served Communion to teach their kids about your traditions.

Of course, you still want to teach your kids about other cultures. Just stick to more respectful methods. For example, you can read books written by authors from those cultures. Rick Riordan Presents books are a great option.

Riordan rose to fame with his fictional Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology series for middle school kids, all cultures that he felt comfortable writing about. Now, he uses that fame to elevate writers from other cultures, so they can tell the story of their own mythology.

Other ways to teach your kids about different countries and cultures in a respectful manner include visiting centers and museums that are actually run by people from those cultures or making recipes from a cookbook written by a chef from that country. For more ideas, I really love this article by Education Week.

“Children are one-third of our population and all of our future.”
“Children are one-third of our population and all of our future.”

2. Value compassion above being right

Too many people value being “right” above compassion, and it really shows in how they raise kids. People are afraid to admit that they’ve made a mistake because they don’t want to be mocked or hear everyone say, “I told you so.” NO ONE likes to hear that, ever. It makes us feel small and foolish.

So instead of admitting that we are wrong, we dig in deeper, lean into our mistake, and look for ways to justify it. We go to great lengths to avoid being shamed, and that in turn leads us to do even more shameful things.

The world would be so much brighter if we switched things up and started valuing compassion above being right. If someone could say “I made a mistake” without worrying about being made to feel like a fool.  If we want to change the way people behave on that grand a scale, though, we have to change how we react to our kids on a personal level.

Do your kids a favor and remove the words “I told you so” from your vocabulary. Seriously, ban that phrase. Add it to your “off-limits swear words” list, because it’s far more damaging than any of the four-letter words we try so hard to avoid saying.

Instead, the next time your kids learn something the hard way (rather than just taking your word for it that it’s a bad idea) react with empathy. Remember, you learned many lessons the hard way, too, and I bet you would have wanted a little empathy when it happened.

3. Make kindness a priority every day

We tend to view random acts of kindness as something to do during the holidays only. Maybe we volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving or “adopt” a family for Christmas. While those are wonderful ideas, spreading kindness isn’t just a box to tick off on a list of holiday traditions.

It’s something that we need to focus on every single day, and in everything that we do. It needs to be a genuine priority.

Here’s the good news- you don’t have to spend money to teach your kids about compassion. Remember, being kind has nothing to do with opening your wallet and everything to do with opening your heart. Maybe start a family dinner tradition where everyone talks about something kind that they either did or witnessed that day.  If you need some help getting inspired, try reading these great books that teach kids about kindness.

While you’re at it, encourage your kids to be the NICE kid at school. Share this quote below with them to remind them that being kind towards others is more important than having the “right” clothes or even the best grades.

 

This quote about being the nice kid should be posted in every school
Some kids are smarter than you. Some kids have cooler clothes than you. Some kids are better at sports than you. It doesn’t matter. You have your thing too. Be the kid who can get along. Be the kid who is generous. Be the kid who is happy for others. Be the kid who does the right thing. Be the nice kid.

4. Talk to each other, not at each other

We adults spend a whole lot of time talking at each other instead of to each other. We do it to strangers on social media, to each other at the dinner table, and to our kids every day. When we’re not actively talking at each other, we’re tuning out and thinking about what we’re going to say when the other person is done talking.

If we can’t learn to truly listen to each other, we can’t change the world. If we all work together to fix this on a personal level, we’ll raise a generation that actually knows how to truly engage with each other.

Make a family rule that only one person can speak at a time, and no one can interrupt them. Use the “talking stick” method. The person holding the stick gets to speak. Whatever method you choose, actively listen.  Don’t just zone out until your son finishes telling you all about his new Minecraft world. Look at him while he’s speaking.

Show interest, even if it’s the billionth time he’s told you this story. Don’t interrupt or cut him off, don’t look around the room, and don’t use this time to run through your to-do list in your head. Only by showing him that you respect what he has to say can he learn to respect what you have to say.

“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”

5. Ask them how they would change the world

We adults seriously underestimate just how smart and insightful our children are, just like the adults in our lives once underestimated how insightful we were. One of the greatest things you can do to raise kids that will change the world is to simply ask them how they’d change it. Kids see things so much differently than we do.

They haven’t had the chance to become jaded, after all. They may have ideas that we never would think of on our own.

So, talk to your kids about what is happening in the world (age-appropriately, of course). I’m not saying you should ask your 5-year-old daughter what she thinks about war and famine or anything like that. Find something that’s reasonable to discuss with a kindergartner. Talk about it, then ask “What do you think?”

If your kids are a little older, say preteens and teenagers, you can get a bit more detailed and look at the bigger problems in the world, then ask them what they would do to change things. Perhaps more importantly, ask them what we can do to leave a better world for them.

“If we are to reach real peace in this world… we shall have to begin with children.”
“If we are to reach real peace in this world… we shall have to begin with children.”

6. Be a good role model

This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway.  If we want to raise kids that grow up to change the world, we need to be willing to change the world ourselves. Show them how to be a good person, don’t just tell them.

We can’t keep pushing things off to the next generation, hoping that they’ll make the changes we want to see. We need to do better now. Maybe, if we get it right, our kids won’t have to change the world. They’ll just have to keep the momentum going.

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. It would be good to get a copy of the poster on the post. How could I do this please?

    Reply

  2. This sign should be available for French and English schools to post on their walls for kids to get the full impact. I would buy it myself for my daughters School in French.

    Reply

    • We are all humans made by God. We need to put God back in the homes schools churches and Government. Morals manners and respect for others and our country and most of all teach the bible. If we deny him here on earth we will be denied in heaven. Kindness comes with morals and manners and respect. There must be discipline in the homes and schools. Take the drugs away and child trafficking out of our country. Its important. GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND OUR HOMES.

      Reply

  13. I love that poster and would love a copy of it. I am not able to copy it from facebook. Would you be able to email it to me – PLEASE. I tutor at an elementary school and would love to take it with me.

    Reply

  18. You can get a free digital print of Bryan Skavnak’s quote at Bethenicekid.com
    Lots of other great merch there too!!

    Reply

  19. All you all have to do is go to internet, type in the first line and find images. You can buy it on etsy, amazon and probably other places.

    Reply

  21. LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!!! I would love a copy but can’t get off Facebook! Please send me a link where I can download…or an actual poster! I would also like to share…CanI???

    Reply

  23. I love this sign. As a grandmother raising my 2 granddaughters, I would love a copy of this poster. Is it possible that you can send one to me? Please email me if you need any further information. Thank you.

    Reply

  25. We are all humans made by God. We need to put God back in the homes schools churches and Government. Morals manners and respect for others and our country and most of all teach the bible. If we deny him here on earth we will be denied in heaven. Kindness comes with morals and manners and respect. There must be discipline in the homes and schools. Take the drugs away and child trafficking out of our country. Its important. GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY AND OUR HOMES.

    Reply

  26. All this MUST be tempered with a belief in a Higher Being and that the world does NOT revolve around them. That being said, I say THIS. While all this seems to be a “Good Thing”, it’s only in a Perfect World that it would work. Raising your child to be this way is OK but you must also instill in them a Sense Of Self that others can NOT tear down. IF not, they will be the ones USED by those whose parents raised them to be the Predator. Remember, we will always have Bullies. Users and Takers. ALWAYS. Never let a day go by without talking to your children and make them KNOW they are PART OF A FAMILY and not just a loner with no support system. Family IS the cornerstone of Any Society. Without the Nuclear Family Unit, we are just ships at sea with NO ANCHOR. That is why Evil People aways attack the Family Unit and our faith. They stand in the THEIR WAY, and “Their Way” is usually Control, Dominance and Eventually the Destruction of everything WE and our ancestors have worked for and built.

    Reply

    • My children are adults but we raised then by these principles as best we could. We we are atheists and I do not think a Divine Being is necessary to teach children how to live. Steer them away from thinking they are better than others; be humble about success. The precepts described above are commitments, a contract between you and your children. If God is part of your family team, by all means, welcome him.

      Reply

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