In my local community, I want to introduce children to forgiveness education. Would you recommend that I start first within schools, or should my pitch be to parents within families?
I think your idea is vital because we need to start helping children understand what forgiveness is and is not, so they have a strong defense against unjust treatment as they grow into adulthood. As we know, and unfortunately, in this imperfect world, many people will be confronted by deep injustices against them. Forgiveness is a scientifically supported approach to free the self from excessive anger and other challenging internal responses, such as anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, when the injustices are severe. I think both school and home are worth your efforts. Talking to parents is crucial because sometimes schools are so overburdened with current requirements that educators do not feel as though they have room for one more addition, in this case, forgiveness. Because families do not have formal, state requirements for what is taught and emphasized in the home, it may be easier to plant forgiveness there first. You would need to strategize on how to introduce parents to forgiveness curricula, including helping them build confidence in teaching the material. I am here as questions arise for you on this very important idea.
