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A Good Citizen
Encouraging Citizenship in Our Children and Ourselves
By Heather V. Long
Every child's first community is home. What children see and hear greatly influences how they interact with one another in the broader communities of neighborhood, school, country and ultimately the world.
We often equate citizenship with voting and civil rights, but citizenship extends beyond these rights to something much more. The act of thinking outside of oneself is one of the primary motivators for encouraging citizenship, both for our children as well as us. "Our children participated in an arboretum type event not that long ago," says Robert Billingham, professor of human development and family studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. "They also help out with the food drive. Schools can be a wonderful place for focusing their involvement in projects."
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines citizenship as "the status of being a citizen as well a membership in a community (such as a college) and the quality of the an individual's response to membership in a community." Our communities come in many shapes and sizes, as does our involvement with them.
"We have to teach children to think beyond themselves," says Billingham. "A great practice is for a parent to regularly volunteer their time so they can demonstrate through action helping the less fortunate, participating in local projects. It can have a profound effect on children to see their parents involvement, and it makes it more personal."
As parents, one of our goals is to encourage our children to better themselves, become more independent and to succeed at what drives them. Ultimately, we want them to be happy, but compassion should always play a role in that. Citizenship teaches compassion not only for other people, but also for animals and the environment. The world outside the front door is a large one, but we should always start small with the porch or the front yard. Just as you pick up the small pieces of litter before you mow the lawn, you also want to make sure your children don't tackle something beyond their comprehension.
