This is the worst way to raise a child: so many of us do this nowadays without realizing it, but I see it everywhere. You should not be clothing your child in political outfits, walking them in debate parades, or telling them how they are supposed to worship which God at what time of day.

I get it, maybe you are passionate about your beliefs and think that you are raising your child the “right way.” Little do you know, though, that your kids will probably NOT have the same beliefs as you completely. It’s one thing to show your kids why you believe what you do, but let them decide when they are old enough what they wish to follow. Don’t go showing off your kid wearing an Obama shirt when they are far too young to understand politics, yet alone understand the candidates’ views. Don’t push your kid to wear certain clothes just because you did and that’s “your religion” when maybe they believe their religion will accept them no matter what they wear. Your job as a parent is not to tell your children what to believe or how to live their lives, but to raise them to be open-minded enough to make their own decisions, and most importantly, how to love everyone regardless of their beliefs. We are, after all, entitled to our own beliefs, right? We are a world of many religions, many fashions, many colors, many languages, but all the same smiles.

For example, I was raised as a Lutheran. My mother took me to church every Sunday. Now, this is OK. Simply because she never pushed it on me, she just wanted me to understand why she believed what she believed. Being a Lutheran was a part of my family’s history. It was always optional for me to stay in church with her, to go outside and play, or to sit in the back room and color. Eventually, I began Catechism classes, and I hated it. I learned nothing, I was stressed out, and it was pulling me away from religion. That was my opinion, that was JUST my choice. I know friends of mine who loved charism, and learned a lot from it. It just wasn’t a part of what I believed in, because what I was being told was that in order to find the grace of God, I had to take these classes. Though, I believed that the grace of God wasn’t determined by which classes you take when you’re in elementary school, but the person you grow up to become. The person you live to be. So, I Told my mother I didn’t want to go, and we both stopped. She stopped going to a church that had been in our family for years simply because I didn’t believe in the curriculum. Now, that’s the way parenting should be done if you ask me. What was my next step? I wanted to find a church that followed my beliefs. And I did. I also sang at the church, volunteered at the church, and went every Sunday and Wednesday. I even began taking its classes, which weren’t required, and passed them all. I was a newly baptized Methodist, and the first in my family. Some choose not to go back to church, which is okay. I chose to go back. I found my place, and I am happier than ever because I know where I belong in my faith. That’s just a small example, though, of how parenting should be done.

You see, I am bothered by the amount of Bernie Sanders and Trump shirts I am seeing young children wearing. I am bothered by the amount of parents I see dragging their children into situations, into buildings, into things they did not choose to believe or follow. They are far too young to have made that choice, and I am bothered by the amount of kids being pushed to think that they will be outcasted f they do not believe this or that. If they were to decide for themselves, would they REALLY be wearing that? Would they be in that church? Would they be at that rally? Or would they be somewhere else fighting against the cause you fight for? Would they be across the street confirming their faith in another religion? Each person is different. Each person is unique and beautiful. Each person has their own set of thoughts and opinions and are entitled to them just as well as everyone else. You can not expect that your children will believe the same things that you do. You can not expect that your child will grow up to be a Democrat just because you are, because maybe they’re Republican. Or maybe they are categorized as something else. Regardless of what they believe and who they are, your ONLY job is the love them and raise them to understand that it’s OK to be different. Who knows? Maybe your kid will teach you a thing or two.

When it comes to what you follow, what you believe, you can’t honestly sit there and know for sure that EVERYTHING you believe in is absolutely the only way to go. Everyone’s views are different, and we believe differently for many reasons. If there was only one right way, it’d be more clear to us what that might be. Don’t forget, though, that down every road, there are multiple paths that lead you to your destination. Some may take longer than others, some may have detours, and maybe some do come to a dead end. We will choose different roads, different paths, but us as human beings need to learn and understand that to be civilized, respectful, and to be as amazing and capable of anything we wish, we must be open minded, and we must think differently. Nobody that did anything great in our history made a name for themselves by thinking the same as everyone else. It was those who thought flying was possible, that light could be invented, and those who were told they would fail at certain things whom showed us that those things were possible. They thought differently, so why not teach your kids to be extraordinary? Quit teaching them to follow the herd. Quit thinking about making yourself happy by raising your kids to believe these things, and think about making your children happy by allowing the to express themselves and be who they want.

My point come down to this. This problem of parents pointing their kids in the direction they want them to take stems while their kids are young. Don’t take them to rally’s, force them to follow a religion, push them towards a certain political candidate, or tell them they are wrong just because they follow something that you don’t. This world is a great one because we are ALLOWED to think freely, love freely, and believe freely. It’s time for us to quit expecting our kids to be what we want them to be, and it’s time for us to allow our children to be who and what THEY want to be. Again, we are a world of many cultures and religions and beliefs. Embrace them, and love each other because of these differences rather than hate and outcast the things that we do not understand. Love your kids, and let your kids stand out. Let them inspire, dream, believe, because who knows? Maybe they are capable of bringing the peace and happiness into this world that it deserves.