Aloha Friday: Talking To Your Kids About Hate

January 11, 2013 TechyDad Aloha Friday, Life, Museum, Parenting

I’ve had to deal with hatred and bigotry two times in my life. The first time was in high school when a friend of a friend began telling me about how he idolized Hitler and wished he had finished what he started. To say that I was upset is an understatement. I’m not violent by nature, but I honestly wanted to punch this person in the nose.

The other time was in college. Someone (notorious for doing this sort of thing across the country) took out an ad in our college paper claiming that the Holocaust never happened. I joined my college branch of Hillel to protest this and to compose a counter-ad.

Thankfully, my kids have been mostly shielded from bigotry so far. So when we went to the New York State Museum’s civil war exhibit, they passed by a display of a Klu Klux Klan uniform and didn’t notice it at all. When I pointed it out, they had no clue what it was or what kind of person would wear it.

I had a small discussion with my kids about how some people hate other people based on who they are or what color their skin is. To be honest, I don’t think they really understood. I’m pretty thankful that they’ve been shielded from this ugly side of reality, but I still worry about them being targets of hate.

My Aloha Friday question for today is: How do you talk to your children about hate/bigotry?

P.S. If you haven’t already, try out my Twitter applications: FollowerHQ and Rout.

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #172