Making the world a better place becomes even more imperative when you have kids. Of course, you want to do everything you can to improve the state of the world. But even more important than that is how you raise your kids. It’s not enough to assume that if your kids never see you acting in a prejudiced manner, that they will grow up to be socially conscious, concerned adults. Ensuring that your children are prepared to make the world a better place begins in childhood.

What is social justice? It means different things to many people, but a commonly accepted definition is that social justice establishes equality for all people. It is an absence of prejudicial actions, regardless of race, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or social class. While many people believe that prejudice is learned, that doesn’t mean that children will become concerned with social justice without any input. It’s important that they receive guidance about how to live this way, especially as they encounter more people and situations. Here are some tips to help you make sure that kids are on the right path.

Most aware, concerned parents don’t have overtly negative biases. If the parents are anti-racist and anti-homophobic, chances are good that the kids will be the same. But sometimes we hold biases that we don’t even know we have. I used to say “Come on, grandpa, get a move on it,” when I was stuck behind a slow driver. Hearing my kids giggle about this and repeat it back made me realize how ageist my words were.

Similarly, a lot of slang terms in our language have negative origins that reflect an underlying bias against certain groups of people. Some of these are more obvious (you can probably think of some) but some are not. Some may say that worrying about the derogatory origins of words is an issue of too much political correctness. But at the heart of the matter is whether or not you believe that words count. Most of those who argue against “political correctness” claim that they didn’t mean to insult anyone with their

Holly Case is a Michigan-based writer, full-time student, and a teacher of creative writing to adults. She is also the mother of three little boys who simultaneously inspire and prevent her writing. She writes frequently about environmentalism, social justice and parenting, particularly the intersection of all three issues. She is also the online/newsletter editor for Natural Food Network, where she writes about natural health.
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Beware bullies.
Many of us still vividly remember the bullies from our own childhood. Usually, the reason for the bullies’ behavior seemed random: if there was any stated reason that they chose to pick on someone, it was usually due to factors beyond the victim’s control. In fact, bullying is the earliest childhood display of social injustice.

Raising kids not to be bullies necessitates a zero-tolerance policy on violence. Beyond that, though, if you want to prevent children from becoming bullies, the best thing to do is to establish yourself as someone your child can trust. As we’ll see in the next section, empowering children means they’re less likely to take out their feelings of powerlessness on others.

But what if your child is the one being bullied? It’s important to be an advocate for your child. You can’t protect children from everything, but if kids can tell that you’re concerned about the situation and you care about trying to protect them as much as possible, it goes a long way. Teaching them to fight back won’t solve the problem, and only reinforces the cycle of violence.

Empower them.
Parents don’t usually like "backtalk" from their children, but the ability to think for themselves is an important skill to develop to prevent children from becoming prejudiced. Sociologist Erich Fromm found that submission and aggression are opposite sides of the same coin. He called this the "authoritarian personality type," and found that people who are the most aggressive toward outsiders are the most willing to give up their power to strong authority figures. In fact, one of the most egregious examples of this was the case of Nazi Germany. In the midst of a worldwide economic depression, the German people felt powerless and were willing to submit to an authority figure like Hitler. In so doing, it enabled them to focus their hatred on minority groups. The solution to this problem is teaching people to question authority and to think critically for themselves.

Parents who want to encourage their children to develop these skills don’t have to give up all their power as effective parents. One of the best ways to ensure that you have children who are able to question authority while still retaining some parental control is to include children in their own discipline. This works better with older children, of course, and it doesn’t mean that misdeeds should be ignored. However, children often create harsher punishments for themselves than their parents would. Involving kids in how they will be disciplined gives them a feeling of empowerment, and puts the parent in the role of guide rather than dictator.

Talk about current events.
Many parents try to shield children from the uglier realities of the world. And certainly, there’s a limit to how much exposure to allow. But especially once children are late elementary-school age, discussing current events is more important and can be a valuable tool for sharing your values about social justice. Discussing world events is a good opportunity to show your child what you believe. You can also selectively choose which news stories to talk about with your kids: you may wish to leave out issues that would scare them, but choose to discuss incidents in which prejudice was a factor in discrimination or crime. If your political views include social justice concerns, it’s important to talk about your political views too. A lot of parents assume that their kids will naturally just know what their parents’ beliefs are. What a parent says and does creates the filter through which the child sees the world.

Bring it home.
Teaching kids about social justice is just theory if they don’t see you reflecting those values in your everyday life. If kids regularly spend time with a diverse group of people, they will pick up on the inclusiveness without it being explicitly pointed out to them. It’s not necessary to cultivate false friendships in the name of diversity, but if the kids only see you spending time with people of similar racial and socioeconomic background, they may reasonably wonder why your own circle isn’t more diverse. The biggest benefit of having a circle of friends from diverse backgrounds is that the kids come to see people who are different from themselves as being just another variety of normal, rather than something strange. It’s necessary to put your money where your mouth is, so to speak. If you want your kids to accept all types of people, it looks suspect if you don’t invite varied types of people into your home.

Look to the community
Many religious organizations have programs for children that focus on social justice issues. The Unitarian Universalist church, for example, welcomes people of all faiths and teaches social justice to children as a core part of their curriculum. Other churches emphasize social justice issues as well, from mainstream Christianity to Buddhism. There are even the Spiral Scouts, an alternative to the Boy and Girl Scouts for pagan families. When children spend time in such organizations, they don’t have to fight against peer pressure when it comes to treating people fairly because all the other kids are doing the same.

These programs often have community outreach efforts as well, which is where putting social justice values into practice is most significant. Volunteering is always helpful, both to the recipients of the service as well as to the ones performing it. But it’s especially important when it comes to teaching social justice. After all, social justice is not just about recognizing that all people deserve to be treated equally: it’s also about recognizing that all people are not treated equally in society and working to make things right. Helping those in need reminds children of what happens when society is not focused on social justice. Seeing social injustice first-hand and working to eradicate it is often the most powerful teacher of all. Working for social change needs to become a part of everyday life for children, not just something that’s fit in between school and soccer practice.

Elie Wiesel, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, said, “Everything becomes possible by the mere presence of someone who knows how to listen, to live, and to give of himself.” Teaching children these important values ensures that the future of society will be a little brighter. Who knows? In the process, it might just inspire you as well, and that will help improve the present too.