You immediately think “Oh, I wonder what my kid is listening to?” As in, what sort of music taste do they have? Nah, not that. I am referring to the conversations you are having with other adults that your kids are listening to. Those conversations might actually be even more impactful to them than the ones that you are having with them.
The station they tune-in everyday to is “What I learnt growing up” .
And you are the main contributing artist to that station
I grew up in India to a generation of parents that basically were working hard to gain a certain standard of living. My parents didn’t have the time to have “The Talk” and neither did any of my friends’ parents. For that matter, we hardly ever had any serious talks about anything. Well, other than them nagging me all the time that if I didn’t study well, I would end up on the streets selling beans. Life is ironic in the sense that I love cooking and one of my pipe dreams is to be a chef 😉
Anyhow, they were working hard to provide a better life for us. So, why do I bring that up? It’s because I learnt a lot from them without them teaching me. I learnt a lot from seeing what conversations they were having with other adults. How they were interacting, the sort of topics they would talk about.
Now, here in America, we are raising kids of mixed heritage and ethnicities. Most of my friends aren’t working to gain “a certain standard of living”; they are working to gain “a certain fulfillment in their work”. We all have luxury of time to have “The Talk” and for that matter, any talk we want. And often, I think, many of us are spending too much time thinking about what we should teach our kids and what we should tell them to do or not to do. I am not sure if that matters as much.
So, think less about what you want to teach them. Think more about how you present yourself when you interact with others. I think it’s even more relevant today than it was a few years ago. The virus has not only had an impact on what we do, how we do it and where we do it from. It has also had an impact on what others are doing and how they are doing it. In other words, we are now in this politicized world where some people feel that their civil liberties are being infringed upon because of certain mandates. I am not here to judge anyone. All I say is this, when you have a conversation with your kid, with other adults in front of your kids, think about your stand. Think about the reasons why think a certain way and make sure to have meaningful debates with others.
All the different tracks in your music station will impact how they will lead their life. You better make sure you are not just playing random songs with no meaning behind them just because the beat is good. Instead play tracks with meaning, a symphony and something with a purpose.
Data Journey 