Raising Kids To Be Good Grown-Ups

What do our children need to become good adults?  This is an age old question, and one that humanist, atheist and other secular parents struggle with, just like everyone else.  And often, secular parents have to overcome the culturally accepted notion that God and goodness are synonymous.  Despite the fact that neither  science nor experience support that assumption.

What we do know is that between the ages of two and five we begin to see morally based behavior in children: empathy, morality, a sense of right and wrong.  Some recent studies have pointed to a sense of right and wrong in six month olds.  But at whatever age it begins, I think most of us want our children to develop a moral compass and to grow into adults who care about others and are able to make good choices for themselves.

How to get there?  Well, children who see engaged and caring people around them, who have opportunities to contribute to the common good and are who provided opportunities to think about moral issues and ethical choices will have the best chance of becoming engaged and caring adults themselves.  We know that the human brian is hardwired for empathy, but we still need to provide our children with the experiences and the  vocabulary to fit that empathy into their lives.

The Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island and the Center for Inquiry--Long Island are offering a conference this weekend with distinguished speakers and opportunities for participants to explore this question:  how to raise our children to be good adults?  Information on speakers and registration can be found at http://secularparentingforum.org.