When we least expect it, we are presented with the opportunity to demonstrate the values and principles we learn in family life. It is worth highlighting, and these times of crisis allow us to do so, the importance of the family's educational role in shaping individuals.
In times of prosperity, understanding that today's child is tomorrow's adult seems utopian and a strange concept to many. As family counselors and/or educators, getting those who consult us to think about the need to strengthen the family as a sphere for transmitting values is an almost Herculean task, even if the topic comes up in a casual conversation with friends. It seems that talking about values is unpopular and talking about family is highly controversial. But, even so, there are issues that are universal and need to be discussed in order to understand and establish precedents that nothing happens by chance.
Respect, responsibility, humility, and patience are values fostered and taught by example. From adults to children. From teachers to students. From parents to children. There is no better teaching tool than example. Children are always more attentive to what we do as parents than to the endless, repetitive speeches we tend to give. But, immersed in our adult world, we continue shouting without realizing that, in just a few minutes, they're offline. Observing and imitating might seem like the most practical and least expensive method, but it is, in fact, the most enriching.
We must instill in our children, from an early age, respect for themselves and others. This includes the example we set in how we take care of our health, in our choice of friends, and in the commitments we make. It also includes how we treat our elders, authority figures (police, bosses, and teachers), our peers, and our children. Respect for our children and our family is the most compelling proof of what it means to be respectful and to have respect. The same applies to responsibility. If, as parents, we are responsible in fulfilling our obligations in daily life, our children will imitate us in their actions. Taking ownership of our decisions and their consequences speaks to our character and guides us toward thoughtful action.
We could write pages and pages about humility. But I'm referring to humility in its sense of being free from pride. How important it is to be humble and to teach others to be humble! It allows us to face adversity without the arrogance of believing ourselves omnipotent. It allows us to know how to ask for help, to listen to those who know more, and to accept difference. Being humble connects us with the simplest and most genuine parts of ourselves and others. Speaking of patience today, in this age of immediacy, sounds strange. It's a virtue that is scarce, but it helps us develop the capacity to wait, to tolerate frustration in the face of the unexpected, and to delve into winding paths in search of truth. How much patience we parents need to raise children threatened by so many subcultures and ideologies!
Despite all this, the power we have at our disposal as parents is unmatched and unparalleled. We simply need to be convinced of what we are capable of being and doing for our children, of what it means to live as a family and to have a family that guides, protects, and provides the means for them to become well-rounded individuals. However, we often squander this opportunity to be parents and to raise our children with these values that they will know how to live by as adults.
Today's emergency exposes us to vital and critical situations. It challenges us to be valuable individuals with our sights set on the common good. Building the best version of ourselves is neither easy nor achieved overnight. It's about navigating life's highs and lows, developing the potential and abilities we've been given and that our parents have demonstrated throughout their lives, and which we will pass on to our children in the best way possible: by example.
A well-educated child will grow into a respectful, responsible, humble, and patient adult. They will not lose sight of their own well-being, nor that of others. Their example of solidarity will be shaped by doing what is necessary for the greater good.
Today, humanity is anguished and paralyzed in the face of the unpredictable, the unforeseeable, and the invisible. As part of it, we must be the best versions of ourselves. With our eyes fixed ahead and our hands extended to the side, we must walk together toward the hope that the best is yet to come. And it is through each person's contribution that this hope reaches us.
Let's put what we've learned to use for the benefit of others. Let's dedicate our efforts, as responsible adults, to the education of our children. Let's foster a participatory and thriving family life where everyone can be their best selves. Many better selves make a better world.
