This is a sponsored guest post.
Every parent wants to protect their children from all the evil that exists in the world. However, psychologists warn about the dangers of shielding your kids from this essential part of real life. Therefore, if you truly want your children to grow up strong and able to overcome any challenges that might be in their future, you should teach them about the dark side of humanity as well. Museums will be a great help through this.
Note that if you can’t visit the exact museums listed below, use them as your guide to the type of place you should include in this kind of educational program for your kids. There are museums and memorials commemorating the same or similar events all over the world.
9/11 Memorial & Museum
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is a place of such incredible sadness, you feel it just standing by it. And yet, visiting it is a must if you want to teach your children about one of the biggest horrors of the world that exist today, which is terrorism.
This visit can be a lesson on why we should do everything within our power to stop violence everywhere. Seeing the aftermath of a tragedy it causes is sure to leave an impact much stronger than anything your kids will earn in classes.
Auschwitz Museum
There is no easy way to tell your children that human beings are capable of unspeakable horrors. That’s why using the help of experienced guides in the Auschwitz Museum might be the best choice for this particular lesson. This museum offers tours and lessons about the Holocaust for every age. Therefore, you can make sure that your children learn about this horrific page in history without getting traumatized for life.
Also, you should join them on this tour and, if necessary, ask the guides for advice. This will help you answer questions your kids might have after this visit.
Telling your children about genocide and torture might seem too cruel. However, it’s much better that your kids know that those capable of doing this exist. Yes, this might make them wary, but it’s an essential lesson for teaching caution. Children who live in a protected bubble of love are those most at risk of getting hurt when they step out into the adult world. Lessons like this will help prevent this because your kids will know what might lie out there.
Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration and Tenement Museum
Immigration is not an easy topic to talk about, but it’s an important thing for children to know, especially now when meeting refugees is an everyday occurrence. Also, it’s important to note that the number of hate crimes, against refugees in particular, has been growing. Educating your children about other cultures and how they integrate with yours is important to help stop these crimes.
Showing them how immigrants were treated back at the beginning of the 20th century is an important educational experience. During the tour of the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, your kids will learn that 12 million people were processed on this island before they were granted permission to enter the US. Today, nearly half of the US population can trace their roots to these immigrants. Seeing that the immigrants, who were often refugees, of yesterday are our ancestors should help children see that the poor treatment that the refugees of today receive is wrong.
You can continue the lesson on the hardships of immigration in the Tenement Museum, a place that shows a glimpse of how immigrants lived. There your children will see some authentic apartments with the items from those times well-preserved and exhibited in the rooms. The place is, of course, much cleaner and well-cared for than it used to be, but kids have good imagination and they should be able to imagine how those tiny apartments looked when they were packed with people.
