We went to Starfire Grille for lunch today. We were eating our meals when a father and son duo walked in. Didn’t think much of it at first except for a bit loud son. He soon got loud and I soon figured out that he was mentally challenged.
He was rather loud. We kept eating. Until JJ brought up the issue. He asked what’s with him and normally, I’d have bypassed the conversation until I realized that every opportunity can be an opportunity to learn. So we had our conversation that no one is best at everything. And that some of us are born with certain conditions that may seem worse than others on the surface.
We talked about “Rain Man” and “Forrest Gump” and the kids seemed to take it in well. I had told them that most of the time, these mentally challenged people are not hurtful though they may seem so on the surface. Most of how your kids see others, I believe, are stemmed from how you as parents teach and raise them. If I had taught my kids to be afraid or be mean to people who are different, chances are that would have everlasting impact on their future behavior.
I am thankful that the opportunity surfaced and that the kids took it in well.
You let your kids watch those two movies? I can only guess at the questions that came out from some of the scenes.
Anyway, glad you had that conversation – it would have been easier to just ignore it. Though with some of the genetic testing and all, having kids that have disabilities like that will become rarer as their parents will simply abort them. At least that is the trend…
Oh no… they have yet to see the movies… I sort of described the premises of the movies with promises that they should watch them when they grow up. 😀