Teach Them Well… And Let Them Lead The Way!

Dear Readers,

Nothing soothes a Parsi soul more some good music. Some days ago, I was relishing the magical voice of the late legend, Whitney Houston belting out one of her superhits – ‘Greatest Love Of All’, and the extensive relevance of the very first two lines stayed with me:

‘I believe the children are our future

Teach them well and let them lead the way…’

Today’s children are tomorrow’s future. They are the recipients of generational legacies – the perpetuation of culture and heritage rests on their shoulders. While this reality assumes increasing importance for minority communities, it becomes paramount to our minuscule community and its unparalleled, glorious legacy.

How often do we speak or hear the phrase, ‘Children these days!’… accompanied with an eye-roll and a sigh, before we go into a diatribe about how ‘In our days…’ some behaviours would be unacceptable or how we never had it as easy, and so on.

Truth is, a large part of how children turn out is a reflection of their upbringing – the values, beliefs, traditions and practices inculcated into them by parents and to an extent, the environment. How we raise children determines the outcome of not just their future but also the collective future of the community.

It is therefore crucial to consider the values we instil in them. You can only lead by example. ‘Do as I say, don’t do as I do’ simply doesn’t work. Being overprotective doesn’t work either – there’s only so much you can protect (read control) them from outside influences. And with the real monster – social media – residing with us 24/7, in our very homes, there’s no shielding them from the rampant perversion everyone is subject to.

Instead, if we focus on empowering them with the right values, mindset and attitude – that will ensure enough strength of character, responsibility and priority to neither be affected by outside influences, nor be led into making decisions that bring harm upon to themselves, their families or the community. The precedent you set will inspire them to decide what content to imbibe, what content to consume and what content to disregard – be it online or in real life.

As a community reckoned for its greatness and its stalwarts, the least we can do is honour the phenomenal legacy we were bequeathed, and ensure its perpetuity. The standing of our community in the future relies on our next gen – the future pillars of our community and a worthy asset, for a nation, from a larger perspective. So, do right by them – empower instead of trying to control them, be a good role model, teach them well… and let them lead the way!

Have a good weekend!

– Anahita