IMPRESSIONABLE MINDS

I

          stood at the back of the Target book collection.

          The long grey shelves protected me from the main aisle, where anyone might have judged me for reading a book in the              store instead of taking it to the front registers.

A child with red hair, blue eyes and freckles glanced at me, narrowing her eyes before turning toward the shelf.

She extended her right arm and grabbed a book, and then another with her left hand. She began to reach for a third before turning back to look at me.

Maybe it was the bright yellow book that caught her eye, or the title: “You Are a Badass, How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life.” Maybe it was my high-waisted army green pants -- likely foreign to her elementary school -- where I imagine fashion never exceeds the New Arrivals section at Justice. 

I thought, “Why do people like to stare? What do they gain?” Though I couldn’t take my own thoughts seriously, as there I was, hiding between bookshelves, observing the behaviors of a young girl as though she was a foreign species. 
I tried to focus my attention back to the book, but the girl starting shuffling around.

She set down two of the books and applied her weight to her left leg and let her right leg bend forward slightly at the knee -- like me. She then raised her left arm and let the book lay against her fingers like a member of a woman’s church choir, the cover held open by only her thumb -- just like me. 

As the girl stood there, flipping through the pages with curiosity, imitating my own mannerisms, I realized children are incredibly impressionable.

This may not be revolutionary, but if the way I position my legs can make a child readily follow suit, then imagine how their day-to-day interactions change their worldview so quickly.

Elementary and middle school can be critical in determining who a child may become, what they believe and how they address problems that will arise later in life. 

For example, when boys are taught that expressing emotions is a weak trait or “girly,” they will learn to suppress their feelings at a young age and be less comfortable addressing their emotions in the future.

 
They will also believe this should be the social standard, and reinforce this idea to other young boys, and believe “girly” is synonymous with “weak.”

Prejudice is a learned behavior. Hate is a learned behavior. Racism, homophobia, misogyny and xenophobia are all learned behaviors. 

Though someone can be educated and eventually learn different beliefs, starting out with confidence and a kind heart will save several others from having to initiate a conversation explaining why their superiority complex is dangerous.

So start now, and teach children how to empathize. Educate them on differences, rather than forming a bubble around themselves and labeling everyone else as “others to be shamed.”  
 

As the cycle of life goes on, children will ultimately become the proprietors of humanity’s future, and more can be created from love than strongly held judgments of the way others should live life.