There are more national and global issues that can divide a family than at any other time in history. In addition to the typical challenges of devoting your life to your kids, parenting has become much more of a complex marathon now than it used to be.
Parenting and living in a family today require a new kind of depth, maturity, and wisdom to handle a host of new potholes. It’s already clear that almost no one believes that parenting is an easy job. In the 21st century, with all of its extra dangers, parents need to start educating their children by recognizing the importance of having conversations about gun shootings, global warming, worldwide corruption, and the divide in the country between the political leaders that are our representatives.
Children’s feelings and sensible parental responses about these issues must be sensitively approached in age-appropriate ways. It also is more impactful when the parents are able to share the changes, they’ve made themselves as models, whether that’s responding to national and global concerns by listening to the news and gaining insight and intelligence or new conversations they’re having and actions they’re taking.
Three essential parenting guidance tips to striking the right balance
Having counselled numerous families, it’s clear that a combination of accountability, communication to discuss how specific events and issues impact everyone, and expressing empathy regarding vulnerable feelings with realistic reassurance is the key to giving every family the best chance to be informed and united.
1. Accountability. It is imperative for parents to teach their children the wisdom that we all face situations we often don’t have clear answers for. Unlike how most of us were brought up, today’s parents must teach their kids that they will face challenges and greatly diverse views.
In fact, this needs to be something we all return to, as no one person can know the answers to global warming, nuclear dangers, international corruption, the nuances of freedom and democracy, etc. This will often lead to the wisdom of accepting not knowing the answers and supporting contemplation on the part of both the kids and parents.
Another recent challenge in today’s parent-child relationship, especially in the US, is the surge of school shootings. Children and teenagers are continually reading about or hearing about school shootings. This added level of insecurity on both sides can be immensely stressful.
2. Communication. Addressing this directly and reassuring kids that they are reasonably safe while encouraging them to talk about their feelings is critical. Parents need to guide their children in finding the balance between fear and courage, anxiety and realistic trust and sensibility.
Similarly, discussions about difficult and stressful world events, e.g., the Russia-Ukraine war, are important for older children. They might turn to their parents to understand or seek comfort, which brings the unique challenge of sharing enough information with your children before they hear about it elsewhere.
3. Empathy. With rampant misinformation, the most developed parents consider sharing updates within their family circles easier before their kids are influenced by misinformation or other frightening sources.
How can we raise our children to be citizens of the world?
Another aspect that’s vital for parents to consider is looking carefully at how we were raised. We need to watch out if we’re duplicating areas of being driven to achieve simply for personal security or overprotecting our children by not sharing crucial details about things and events that might impact them.
Most upper and upper-middle-class families focus dominantly on achievement and success as the most important values. However, it is vital to consider contributing more to our communities and the wider planet in today’s day and age. This can be framed as a balancing feature to encourage the next generation towards potentially different and helpful careers.
This encouragement also needs to involve conversations about balance and how they are sharing their inner worlds emotionally. To ensure the world has a chance of survival, it’s essential that we all now begin to consider the security of the world rather than just our kids and families.
Our world needs us as parents to be stewards of both our families and the world. We can’t assume that the institutions that we have relied on can take the brunt of the responsibility to protect our families and ourselves. Our role as parents is more important than ever to help our kids prepare and inspire them to be motivated towards a new and caring way of living.
Robert Strock practiced psychotherapy for 45 years. He is a distinguished teacher, author, and humanitarian. His unique insights are shared through a comprehensive selection of online videos, blogs, and guided meditations at AwarenessThatHeals.org. Robert’s work resonates with anyone seeking inner peace and a compassionate engagement with the world. He co-founded a non-profit organization, TheGlobalBridge.org, to innovate, create alternatives for underprivileged communities, and develop initiatives to combat the climate crisis. For more information and media requests, visit www.RobertStrock.org.
