Raising a child is hard. Anybody who says it’s only about unconditional love doesn’t understand the job well. It’s a huge responsibility of raising a human to face this world with all the chaos. Before the pandemic, parenting was all about dropping your children to school, taking care of their health, and teaching them to be kind.
Children played on the streets and enjoyed summer evenings in a hot tub for four with their friends or family. Now, the definition of fun has changed. Children now spend time making reels and sit together playing video games. There’s one more thing that’s changed — children’s belief in traditional values.
How has the pandemic changed children?
Amongst various other characteristics, we shape our children’s views on religion and tradition. If you’re a religious person, you’d want them to be the same. But lately, with everything that’s happening in the world, people seem to move away from the concept of divine justice.
Innocent people died in the pandemic, schools were shut down, and isolation became the cure. The infected were taken away, and nobody came to meet them. These changes challenge the very norms of society and values that we teach our kids. Children were exposed to trends that were going online, with influencers as their role models.
The tragic part is, this is going to be a norm now. Children of this age know more than children of the 80s or 90s. It was easier to take them to church and ask them to pray before meals, but Gen Z has its own opinions. They ask questions and challenge everything that was considered normal before.
It’s a good thing because they have the potential to drive the world towards a better place. With their ideas about environmental policies, injustice against women, and various other issues, they’re ready to make a change. So, if you’re serious about raising your children with religion, you must keep these things in mind.
Gen Z needs an explanation.
People think that young kids argue, but they’re only asking questions — a lot of questions. They question the existence of God and the importance of religion while bringing out the harsh concepts that might be a little hard to swallow.
These might seem hard to answer at times, but if you take a moment to think about it deeply, you’ll find out that some things can’t be explained because they’re wrong. The values that the Bible teaches us are superior and must be explained with patience to these kids. They’re intelligent enough to understand.
They’ll listen only if you do.
More often than not, parents try to pour their ideologies onto their children without considering their opinions. It happens a lot with religion. You have to understand that they’re going through a roller coaster of emotional change themselves. They have several things to tell you, which you don’t understand.
It’s easier to criticize without understanding. You criticize their Tiktok dances while they criticize your values. Understanding is a two-way street. Allow them to share their opinions openly and then tell them about yours. It’s better than fighting it out.
Use social media to your advantage.
Gone are the days when you taught children to avoid social media. These days, you simply can’t. But you can use it to your advantage. Use various creative ideas and teach children the importance of religion and the values it bestows upon us. It’s only education.
On social media, various religious gurus preach their knowledge. You must follow some of them. Use their teachings and present them to your children creatively. Remember, people will engage if you make it engaging.
Teach them to read books that promote good values.
The first to achieve this point is teaching them to read. Children are much too busy creating reels. They’re moving away from the charm of reading a book. So, begin by teaching them that. Tell them how it will benefit them.
Begin by sharing books that they want to read — romance, fiction, or drama. Then, introduce spirituality to their collection. Once they start to read and feel calm and happy, they’ll automatically want more.
Tell them how good values help them.
The cases of depression are highest amongst Millennials, and Gen Z. Millennials are all grown up now; we can save Gen Z from the internal struggle. Tell them how surrendering oneself to the higher power takes the burden off of our shoulders. Talk to them about the psychological benefits of religious studies.
When they see how it’s making them a better person, they’ll begin to love it. You won’t have to force it on them. If it really helps them, they’ll accept it.
These are the points that you should keep in mind while raising your child to be traditional, good and moral. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can relate to your kid. The art of teaching anything to Gen Z is being relatable.
