Helping Kids Get Out Of The Box

We are all taught to live in a certain way. That way varies somewhat across different cultures, but essentially we teach our kids to follow our steps, to live the way that we live as a society. While there is nothing wrong with that, when all we pass down to our kids is our own worn out habits, we do them a disservice. We begin to limit their possibilities. Life is so much more than most of us know. Yet many continue to stumble along blindly living what Thoreau called, "Lives of quiet desperation." The North American dream may lead some to a solid education, good job, nice family and comfortable retirement. But if this is all we let our kids hope for we are not doing our job. We owe it to our kids to encourage them to question our values, scrutinize the way we live and explore the endless possibilities life has to offer. This may not be something you dump on a small child, but as your kids get older and start to ask questions, support them as they probe the world around them. Teach them that a healthy distrust of what they are told can be the spring board to real discovery. This is not to say that all we have built in this world is false, but accepting all we say and buying into the illusions which we pass off as lifestyle, can only result in existing in a half-life. The world has so much to offer and part of our mandate is to bring kids out of their comfort zone so that they can see and experience all of it.