How to Have Open-Minded Children

True intelligence comes from being patient and accepting of others.

Being from a South Eastern state much of my family and many families around me growing up were not very open-minded. Many children are raised to stereotype against other people, religions, mindsets, and upbringings, this is all brought on due to how your parents were brought up. Guess what? The world is rapidly changing (although many hateful ideologies still remain) and this is affecting everyone in society especially your children! As adults of a certain generation we have seen some major world outlook shifts if you really think about it! We as a human species are extremely young in comparison to the Earth and still have lots of learning to do and the best way to learn is to remain open to new ideas and new thoughts especially when it comes to our children!

I remember going to high school in a country town where some people were very cruel based on their perception of others, fortunately I was able to be a logical kid having matured quickly due to my own circumstances. I thought “I cannot believe kids still pick on other kids for nothing” and when I say nothing I mean absolutely nothing. Towards the end of junior high to early high school I was one of the kids getting picked on for nothing and let’s just say it didn’t go over so well at the time and caused some issues. I was not a fan of high school, I had a near hatred for having to go for the first couple years. Kids can be quite cruel especially the ones who have their own issues whether at home or otherwise. After the first couple years I hit a mental stride and felt as though I moved past all of that stuff and was able to ignore those who had yet to hit that milestone in human understanding. I’ll save the “Bullying” article for another day. Let me get back on track to discussing how and why we should all be open-minded dads in order to help our children lead successful and happy lives.

3 Keys to Being an Open Dad

1. Do not criticize others, especially in front of your kid! I am noticing how impressionable children really are and how quickly they are to copy everything their parents do or say. Watch out for what you do/say and ask yourself if you would punish them for repeating it, if the answer is even close to a yes then keep it to yourself! Poking fun privately will be misconstrued by children, remember they are tiny sponges.
2. Be open to new experiences! Children learn quickly who their parents are, so be who you want your child to see you as. Have you always been a person who envies others for their risk taking and willingness to go out on a limb and try something new? If this is you then try new things in front of your children, and screw up from time to time, they need to see you fail then try again and again until it works! Who knows you might even learn something new about yourself and have a little fun while you’re at it, what do the kids say nowadays? “YOLO!” (this apparently means you only live once, we even have acronyms for everyday conversation now, also at the time of this article I’m pretty sure that kids still say that but this stuff changes as fast as iPhone models)
3. Talk to everyone you meet and be sincere during conversation! This is something I am trying to work on myself. During my childhood I was friends with all different types of people, the cool kids, the nerds, the punk rock guys/girls, the jocks, and just the kids on my street. This type of mentality has followed me through life and my bucket of friends is quite diverse which always makes for interesting and new conversations. You can learn a lot about tons of different things by just talking with many different people from varying backgrounds and to be honest I think it just makes you a better more approachable person!

There is no room in this world for ignorance, hatred, or hateful stereotypes so let’s be the best generation of Dads and start making the change! We always talk about leaving the world better for our children well there is only one way to make that happen and that is to leave better children for our world!