Vital Lessons That Kids Can Learn From Mahatma Gandhi

Every year Gandhi Jayanti is celebrated on 2nd October to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most significant politicians in Indian history. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or Mahatma Gandhi as we popularly know him was born on 2nd October 1869, in Porbandar, Gujarat. In fact. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a ‘Mahatma’ not just for the Indians, but also for the rest of the world. He worked tirelessly, not only for the freedom of the nation from the rule of the British but today, the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi have inspired generations of people, including little children.

Fondly called the “father of the nation”, he preached and practiced non-violence and non-cooperation to achieve his goal. He played a significant role in alleviating poverty, helped women by expanding their rights, worked on building religion and ethnic amity, and protested against the unethical practice of untouchability.

His non-violent protests and peaceful demonstrations and hunger strikes infuriated the British government so much that he was put behind the bars. But, this didn’t stop him. He continued his struggles, was determined to reach his goal and to free the citizens of India from British rule. With his peaceful approach to the freedom struggle, Gandhi has left many impactful and powerful messages and life-changing lessons for the generations to come. Children who are the future of our country can gain so much inspiration from his life stories, principles, and values.

Before we get into the depth of the important life lessons that he has to offer, let’s take a look at his role in the history of Indian politics.

Significant Role of Mahatma Gandhi in Indian Politics

After returning to India in 1915, he started a movement against discrimination and various other social issues such as untouchability, casteism, and he made sure that everyone followed the path of non-violence.

He took the leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921 and carried out massive social campaigns across India. In fact, on June 15th, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly announced that October 2 shall also be celebrated as the International Day of Non-Violence.

To instill the values of Mahatma Gandhi in children, we have curated a helpful guide that will talk about certain special qualities that will completely change the lives of your children.

Vital Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi

We have listed down some important qualities and lessons that Mahatma Gandhi always swore by and this will transform the lives of your kids to a great extent. Let’s take a look at each of them.

1. Live Your Life to the Fullest

The life of humans is very unpredictable. Hence, as per this lesson what matters is the quality of your life and not the speed with which you live. In this fast-paced world that is dominated by technology, where everything moves at a fast pace, let’s take a pledge and make sure that our children lead productive lives, rather than rushing around through the different motions of their everyday lives.

As a parent, you need to keep your kids busy by filling their days with interesting activities and make sure that they spend some quality time outdoors to indulge in free play.

Related Article: 5 Amazing Tips To Build Confidence In Your Kid

2. Be Honest and Always Speak the Truth

Perhaps one of the most important and valuable life lessons that your kid can learn from Mahatma Gandhi. No matter what, even if you are in a minority, you need to be honest and speak up the truth. Make your child understand that it is very important to speak and stand for what is right, no matter the consequences.

And, there is a slight chance that while telling a little lie may save them from the immediate trouble, but the price they may have to pay for it later in the future can be hefty. To make you understand the importance of honesty in the life of your child, let’s look at an example-
Gandhi and the Kettle- This incident dates back to the time when Mahatma Gandhi was studying in a school.

During an ongoing examination, he along with his 5 classmates were asked to spell out 5 words. However, Gandhi didn’t know the spelling of the word ‘kettle and misspelled it. While the charge examination was on the rounds, he noticed the wrong spelling and told Gandhi to copy the correct spelling from the student who was sitting next to him. But, he refused to cheat and his spelling mistake was caught by the examination in charge. Later on, asking, Gandhi told his teacher that it’s not right to cheat.

3. Initiate the Change Within You

To see the change in the world, you must initiate a change within yourself. You must have heard people complaining about the system and the rules that they need to follow. But, before changing the system, you must see yourself from within and try to work on your flaws. Being a responsible parent, you can also help your kids by reflecting on the small things that they can do to make things better, and you need to encourage them.

4. Believe in the Power of Love

The day you will realize the importance of love and how it can overrule the love for power, there will be peace all across the globe. Once your child grows up and steps outside leaving behind the comfort of their cocoon, they will be stepping into the real world. Where your kids will also come across different people coming from a multitude of different backgrounds based on their language, religion, ethnicity, and a lot more.

You need to teach your child to love and respect every individual and they should not show any biases towards people based on their background.

Before teaching your child, you need to double-check and ensure that your personal opinion and decisions don’t influence them in any way. Children often look at their parents for inspiration and hence, be a good role model for your little kid.

5. You Must Live to Learn

One of the famous sayings that were penned down by the father of our nation.“ Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” As per this quote, Gandhi has laid a lot of emphasis on the importance of being lifelong learners and how one should enjoy every moment of learning and living. Human life is full of teachings and great experiences.

Each experience that we encounter in our lives teaches us something new and you need to ensure that your child must be ready to learn both inside and outside the classroom. Make sure that your child seizes every opportunity that comes their way to learn a new thing.

6. Be Positive

A positive perspective towards life is the key to achieving your desired goals. You need to be transparent to your child about everything. Tell them that to achieve great things in life they may have to face many problems. But they must learn to look at the good side of things and be hopeful. Cite the example of Mahatma Gandhi and how he faced several problems but dealt with all the issues with sheer determination, and remained focused towards his goal- which was to make India free.

7. Make Your Child Understand the Importance of Forgiveness

When someone is wrong, it is a natural human instinct to retaliate. But in situations like these, you need to help your child see and make them understand that retaliation does not do anything right. Tell them that why it is important to learn to forgive.

Even though Gandhi suffered a lot under British rule, instead of taking the violent path he adopted the path of non-violence and emerged victoriously.

8. Be True to Yourself

Just like Mahatma Gandhi, you need to be true to yourself, and don’t let the consequences scare you away. Teach your kids to stand up for themselves and for what they believe is right. Tell them that they must not fear the consequences of their actions in a situation when they are upholding what is right.