Newsletter Contents
Publisher's Pen: Staying True to Ourselves
“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring
the ridicule of others; rather than to be false, and to incur
my own abhorrence.”
Frederick Douglass
How much of what we do is at the expense of our true self? So much of the character education taught in our schools today centers around respect, but how much more important is it to teach kids to be respectful and still maintain self-respect?
As adults, we have learned through our experiences that what is right is not always popular, and what is popular is not always right. We must stress this to our children with stories of our past, and the past of others. One good way to do this is through biographies. Biographies are easy to come by these days - just flip to the A&E channel or to the E! Hollywood True Story, and discuss with your children when and how the people in these biographies kept their self-respect, or lost it and gained it back again.
For example, Ray Charles refused to play to a segregated audience in Georgia, and was banned from there at a time when playing his music in Georgia was making him a lot of money. He knew that it was the right thing to do in spite of the fact that he would face a lawsuit for breach of contract.
John Kerry led a coalition to speak to the Senate Committee about ending the war in Vietnam in spite of the fact that he was told that doing so could end his political career. He continued on to the lead 5,000 Vietnam veterans on a 3-day peaceful demonstration in Washington, D.C., and was finally allowed to speak before the Committee.
Later, when he told his mother on her deathbed that he was going to run for President, she said to him, “Keep your integrity!”
May we not be distracted, but have the insight to see the teachable moments when they are in front of us, and may we seek out the teachable moments from the lives of others, so that our children can see the golden path that lays before each and everyone of us.
Smiles,
Elaine
Empowering Parents and Teachers:
Self-respect is a term used for due respect for one’s self, one’s character and one’s conduct. It is laudable self-esteem, and it is showing true dignity under pressure. This is the way the dictionary defines it. To individualize it to ourselves, we must know what we want, what others want and what is right.
Exploring Self-Respect Activities:
Brainstorm to explore what self-respect means to you.
Create a collage that expresses self-respect.
Draw a cartoon about self-respect, or find one in the newspaper.
Write a poem about self-respect or find one in a book.
Create a rap song about self-respect.
Create a labrinyth showing the path one must walk to reach self-respect. (a labrinyth is different from a maze in that there are no “dead-ends” – you enter in one end and come out the other end).
Make up a recipe to cook up some self-respect.
Make up a booklet on the care and feeding of your self-respect
Do interviews of your classmates, parents, teachers, principal, minister, or the people sitting in the café at Barnes & Noble.
Create a one-act play on self-respect.
Choreograph a dance about self-respect.
Make up a scientific experiment for creating self-respect.
Take pictures that reflect self-respect.
Have a debate on a book, movie or play on how it relates to self-respect.
Keep your own personal journal on self-respect.
Write a timeline on what self-respect meant to you 5 years ago, what it means to you now, and what it will mean to you in 5 years and 10 years in the future. (Date the envelope and open it up in the future).
Empowering K.I.D.S. (Kids In Daily Situations):
Kids are smart. You know what your true desires are, and can often see the truth in the situations around you.
Think about what your true desires are.
Write them down.
What steps can you take to achieve them?
What holds you back?
Resolve to keep a list of your true desires and take one small step each day to achieve them. Good Luck and Have Fun!
Copyright© 2007 Empowering Kids! All rights reserved.
Articles may be reproduced and freely distributed as long as this footnote is included.
Subscribe at www.empoweringkids.com
