As a parent, I am keenly aware of the need to teach my children to celebrate and use their individual strengths and talents. Parenting experts, including myself, realize the need for our children to be recognized as individuals and respected for their unique differences. It is important as parents to focus on helping our children to identify these strenthgs and work hard to improve them.
As an educatior and a counselor, I use this philosophy everytime I work with a group of children or an individual child. I believe that recognizing children's individuality and encouraging them to use their strengths rather than trying to "fix" their weaknesses is what empowers a child.
I have talked to parents and teachers and others who influence children and conveyed the importance of this idea for sometime now, but today, I had another revelation. As I talked with a group of inner city children, who have many obstacles to overcome, such as living with adults who's income is way under the poverty level, having parents who are incarcerated, or have died. Many of these kids have no adult in their life that can really care for them and some have special needs themselves. When working with these kids, I realized how important it is for people like me and others to influence their lives.
There are wonderful programs and people who provide the encouragement that these children do not get from a nuclear family. When I thought about this it made me realize, even though it is important to focus on ourselves as individuals, it is really important to teach our children that we are "part of a bigger whole." We each may have different strengths and talents but if we put them together and use them to help one another then we are truely whole.
Not only is it really important to enourage your children to help others around the holidays and on special occasions, but on a regular basis, even in their own house. It is important to learn how to take care of yourself, but it is just as important to learn how to care for others.
