7 Benefits of Raising Multicultural Children

I wasn’t exposed to any culture other than my own growing up; never even heard about people raising multicultural children until I moved to the United States over 12 years ago. Nowadays, this way of parenting continues to be on the rise as the byproduct of the demographic changes happening in the country, and in my opinion is an imperative if we want to equip our children for the society they are growing in.

When it comes to American Latinos, raising multicultural children happens even when that’s not been done intentionally. We see more Latino households in which the parents come from different Latin American country and just by living their lives in the same manner they would, their kids learn to navigate more than one culture starting right at home.

We often hear about the challenges that come with raising multicultural children, but we can’t ignore that this is a necessity that comes from the multicultural reality we are facing in the United States, and although it brings about some challenges, there are also many benefits of parenting in a multicultural way. Living in the United States has been the greatest multicultural exercise for me, one that has transformed my life and my understanding of the world and what it means to fully embrace diversity and multicultural living.

That’s why our decision of raising multicultural children came organically in our home. Some people have ask how are raising multicultural children if we are all from the same culture. I believe that it’s even more important for families of the same culture to chose a parenting style that has a multicultural focus; preparing children to live outside of the walls of our homes is our main duty as parents, and getting them ready to live in a multicultural society is a big part of that.

Like anything we do as parents, raising multicultural children brings its own set of challenges. However, if we think about the benefits it provides for their lives it is clear that they outweigh any challenge by far.

Here are 7  benefits of raising multicultural children that can shape the society of the future:

1. Raising multicultural children makes them more tolerant and eager to socialize
2. They learn to appreciate the differences and are willing to experiment new things
3. It gives children the eagerness to learn about other countries, giving them an open and inclusive world view
4. They feel at ease with a diverse groups of friends and are more likely to continue fostering diverse friendships through adulthood
5. Raising multicultural children teaches them that there are is no one culture superior than other
6. It provides emotional benefits, as it helps kids feel more confident about the world around them
7. Raising multicultural children makes them more adventurous with food, their interest in different cultures makes them curious about trying different dishes

[dania]