Children learn by what they see and hear. A joke or other comment about another race, religon or sexual preference can have a huge impact on your children-even if you are not an avowed racist. Children may not understand that the remark was not malicious, and may believe that people should be slurred because they may be different from themselves, be they a person of color, Caucasian, a Christian, a Jew, a Moslem, physical characteristics, or who in any other way may be different. Teaching your children on how to deal with intolerant beliefs and hatreds starts with you as the parent watching your remarks in front of them. Such behavior can very easily be learned, be it jokes or intentional and unintentional slurs. It can develop into an evil and sinister monster as your child starts feeling superior over other groups and peoples-effectively passing it onto a new generation.

If your child is picking up whatever form of prejudice from his friends, immediately talk to him or her. Tell them in a blunt, straightforward manner that there is no room for hatred and intolerance, be it color, religon, and mental and physical abilities. If your child is a victim of this behavior, treat it as bullying and harassment and go straight to their school to deal with it through the school officials. Fortunately, we have grown much as a society...but there are still many embers of prejudice that still exist. These embers have to be completely extinguished before new fires can start.

Learn more about this author, Todd Daigneault.
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