Teaching Kids About Inclusion

 

If you’ve ever been chosen last for the dodgeball team or sat alone in the cafeteria as a child, you know all too well how it feels to be left out. Just about every kid wants to be part of a group, have friends, feel popular, and be part of the action. Inclusion is part of feeling secure, well-liked, and confident.

If your child is always included in play dates, invited to parties, chosen for teams, and the like, you and your child may not realize what it’s like for the kids who are not regularly made to feel part of the group. It’s an important lesson to teach your child why it’s powerful and kind to always strive to include everyone, even if no one else wants to. Here are some ways you can instill this virtue in your child and make it part of their personality. Everyone feels good when no child is left behind.

 

Look at It from the Other Perspective

Sometimes kids need to put their feet in another’s shoes to realize what it’s like to be left out. Talk to your child and explain how sad and lonely the child who is not included must feel. Watching the others play, laugh, and have fun from the sidelines can be hurtful and humiliating. When your child can see through this child’s eyes, there is a greater chance he or she will extend a hand the next time this child is left alone in despair.

 

Forget Peer Pressure

While it’s difficult to stray from the pack, teaching your child to have a mind of their own is a gift they will treasure for a lifetime. Even if all the other kids are leaving out a particular child from activities, it doesn’t mean that your child has to join in and agree with their actions. Encourage your child to be the initiator in inviting the child to play or eat lunch with the others. Even if it feels scary at first, and your child fears his or her actions will alienate them too, the effort is worth it. A new friend will be made, and eventually the others will realize that leaving another child out is unkind and hurtful. The more, the merrier, and in time all the kids will catch up to the sentiment.

 

Talk to the Teacher

Sometimes, the help of an adult is required. If your child sees a kid who’s always alone and never included on the playground, suggest that your child alert his teacher. The teacher can talk to the kids about teamwork and getting along. He or she can organize activities where there is no option for any child to be picked last or left out altogether. Once the kids see the entire group playing together and enjoying themselves, the chance that a single child is left out in the future becomes less likely.

How do you teach your kids to make sure others are always part of the group? For more information like this, please check out All My Children’s Blogs.

By: Melissa A. Kay