Role-modeling cannot be underestimated. Otherwise our words are hollow and meaningless to our kids. My three kids are now college age, and I have found through trial and error that the best way at this point to impart ethics is to be a good listener and hope that they paid attention when they were younger and learned. By the time they reach college-age, it's a lot harder, because they aren't children anymore and will be experimenting with their life choices. It's the hardest thing to listen to my kids sometimes without judging or nagging, but if I do listen openly, they will bring things to me, and trust my opinions a lot more.

Bottom line is, be the kind of person you hope your kids grow up to be. Nobody's going to be perfect, but it's also powerful for them to see you fail and try again, to see you screw up and apologize and make things right. It lets them know that life is a learning experience. Show them how to write a letter to the editor, to their legislator, give them power to do the right thing. That's my humble opinion, and my kids are all kind-hearted, generous, caring people. The ethics that I believe are the most important are empathy, tolerance, kindness, honesty, integrity, accountability, and a sense of fairness.

We see ample examples today in our society of deteriorating moral and ethical values with a misplaced emphasis on all material measures of success--money, power, name, fame, talent and all outer achievements. If I remember it correctly, Gandhiji pointed out the danger of having power without principles, wealth without morality and education without character.. I would like, therefore, some ethical education courses to be introduced in schools and colleges, such as: "Nonviolent Conflict Resolution;" "Inter-cultural and Inter-faith understanding;" "Biographies of Great Peace Promoters" such as Gandhi, King, Mandela, and other world leaders. More than religious education, what the young people need today is ethical education with an exposure to different people, their cultures, their ways of thinking, living, believing and celebrating.

Uma Majmudar

In response to your original question - I think it is important to impart to children a sense of social justice and a desire for themselves to be part of that change, no matter whether the issues or rights they are fighting for are not directly relevant to them. Simple awareness of social justice is not enough if children are complacent and don't play whatever small role they can in that positive change. Similarly, a desire to change without some guidance of social justice issues that need change is not enough.
- Ashni