If you ask most kids — and many adults — the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, they’d probably tell you it means a long weekend, a day off school or work, a day of no mail and closed banks.
Hopefully most of us, adults and kids alike, can at least say something vague about the positive impact Dr. King had on the civil rights movement, including his organization of the Montgomery Bus Boycott with Rosa Parks, and his powerful speeches such as the famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C.
In an age when most kids are influenced by their favorite YouTubers, music celebrities, and TV stars, as parents we do them a great disservice by not taking some time to share with them some lessons from Dr. King that are still as relevant today as they were in the 1960s.
So whether you want to have one big “lesson” today, or perhaps more effectively share one of Dr. King’s quotes each day this week over dinner or while you’re in the car, each is an important point of discussion with our children, and among adults as well.
1. Speak Up in the Face of Injustice
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
This is a tough one for all of us, and especially for our kids, who face the pressure to “fit in” and not be seen as a “snitch,” especially by the supposedly cool kids.
But this is perhaps the most important of Dr. King’s words to reinforce to our children today.
Despite the best anti-bullying efforts many schools and organizations engage in, bullying is still a common occurrence that not uncommonly leads to suicide in the most severe instances.
Dr. King’s life was all about not being silent about things that matter.
Use stories from his life and this quote as a jumping off place for talking about always speaking up when your child sees any type of wrongdoing, despite the possible negative consequences.
Let her know that you, or another trusted mentor or teacher, will always provide a safe place for her to bring any concerns.
2. Be the Best You That You Can Be
“If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving.”
Social media has opened us all up to crazy and unwarranted comparisons.
Everyone looks better than us, has bigger businesses or better careers than us, and has cooler stuff than us.
For kids especially, the number of followers, friends, likes, views, and comments can also lead to a misplaced sense of worthiness.
In addition to pointing out that much of what’s on social media is fake, reassure your kids that if they start from where they are and just keep doing their best, that’s all they’ll ever need to be “enough” and to find happiness.
Help them out by being an example and living the principle in your life. Don’t talk down about yourself, be overly critical, or have a negative and defeatist attitude.
Some additional words of encouragement here from Dr. King are, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Sometimes it can be scary to just keep moving, but instilling faith and self-confidence in your child will help him step out even when the path is uncertain.
3. Look at Who a Person Is on the Inside
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Sadly, we’re still a long way from making this dream come true.
But while race is still an ugly dividing line, hope springs from the many groups and organizations (including student led groups) that are focusing on ending race, gender, sexual orientation, and other factors as artificial markers of a person’s worthiness.
Definitely expand this one beyond skin color, and talk to your child about what traits make someone a person of good character, and therefore a good friend, versus what markers we should reject, and speak out against, when we see a person being judged on those bases.
4. Always Act From a Place of Love
“Darkness cannon drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
Another big theme throughout Dr. King’s life was treating people with peace and love.
This can be a hard one for kids.
If Johnny hit me, of course I’m going to hit him back.
And while we don’t want to teach our children to lay down and get beat up, an important lesson for all of us is that we can often turn a bad situation around by simply responding with love and understanding.
This can be a difficult one to grasp, but be an example by letting your kids watch you respond nicely and calmly to the next person who speaks harshly or acts in anger towards you.
You might even surprise yourself by how easy it can be to turn a negative encounter into a positive one simply by being nice to the offensive party.
If you’ve gotten some good ideas from this article for how to positively influence your child’s life, make sure to join Kids Party Characters on Facebook, where we share daily updates on our magical kids’ parties, as well as our bests tips for working from home and raising happy and healthy kids.
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