Why does gentle parenting matter?

We live in a world that places more value on things than people. Society today is all about ‘the stuff’ and the pursuit of more. We spend so much time dwelling on the past and planning for the future that we forget to live today. Or we spend so long buried in the busyness of the present moment that we miss the things that really matter.

Our society is selfish, violent, short sighted and focussed on conformity rather than respect for individuality. This is the world we are preparing our children for.

Do we really need to raise children to conform to this ideology? Or would it be better to raise free thinkers who question ‘the done thing’? Do we need more successful (in the monetary sense) professionals, or do we need more peacemakers?

What matters more, happiness or fitting in? Do we really raise children who respect their own thoughts and bodies, or do we raise individuals with confidence and body image issues? Do we raise children who care about the environment or those who view everything as quick, fast, easy and disposable?

Ironically in our quest to raise a child to fit with society’s goals we often bypass what’s really best for our child in exchange for raising them to fit in to ‘the system’. How will anything ever really change in our world if we don’t question commonly held beliefs and raise children who will not only question, but importantly help to change them too.

Gentle parenting is about creating the generation of the future. A future where adults respect not only themselves, but everything and everybody else around them.

A future where happiness means so much more than the house you live in, the car on the drive and the label in your clothes. A future where violence is dramatically reduced, where differing opinions and beliefs are not only respected but valued because adults are confident enough in their own beliefs to not have to belittle those of others that differ.

A future where discipline does not involve inflicting physical harm and pain, exclusion, shame and guilt on some of the most vulnerable members of society.

Gentle parenting is so much more than what you do with your child at any given moment in time. Raising our children gently builds a better future, for us all, too.