Parents need as many resources as possible when teaching important life lessons. What could be more fun than a movie watching the Dr. Seuss classic, "Horton Hears a Who". There were many life lessons in the movie. Here are my top three:

Lesson #1 “Even thought you can’t see them at all, a person's a person, no matter how small.”

People should be honored and appreciated regardless of how big they are, what they look, what they wear. It’s about acceptance and about tolerance. That each person has value and has a purpose. Another lesson is that even the smallest among us can achieve great things. Who-ville is saved not only by Horton, but by Jo-Jo, the mayor of Who-ville’s son who was the smallest Who of all. Great people do not start out great. But they find their voice and they listen to their dream and they can achieve great things no matter how small!

Lesson #2: “I Meant What I Said and I Said What I meant, an elephant’s faithful one hundred percent”

Obviously this speaks to loyalty and faithfulness – two qualities that help form a child’s character. It’s about being accountable for your words and being true to yourself. It’s about being loyal to others and putting friendship above your own needs. Horton faced a lot of abuse if he did not give over the clover. But he chose loyaty and thus bravery and ultimately kept his integrity. There will be times in a child’s life where they have to stick to their morals and beliefs rather than going with the crowd.

Lesson # 3: “If you can’t see it, hear it, or feel it, it doesn’t exist”

This speaks to believing in the unseen. For kids struggling with the notion of God or a Higher Power, this emphasizes that all of us have something bigger than ourselves in our life. Although we can’t see it, hear it, or feel it, there is something to the notion of faith. Understanding that we are not alone in this universe. That there is something much bigger that cares deeply for our needs.

Have you seen the movie? Did you get additional life lessons that you can share?

1 Comments

Anthony Armstrong said:

Hi Paige,

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed your discussion of Horton Hears a Who on TV this morning, , especially since we have two small children who will be seeing the movie this weekend; however, we feel that your last point was a distortion of Dr Seuss’ intention. When Horton makes the point that there may be people bigger than us, you said that it recognizes the existence of a higher power. In actuality, it refers to the possibility that there may be more to our world and our universe than what we see or know about. This goes beyond the notion of God and is a valuable lesson in that there may be more to our existence than what is framed within the narrow confines of religion.

You did a great job of showing how lessons in morality can be taught with the movie, but we feel that by bringing religion into it once again implies that religion is necessary for the existence of morality. There are over 11,000 religions in the world, not counting atheists, yet there seems to be a ubiquitous notion in America that morality only exists within the context of religion. This is a root problem that has many negative repercussions, including the influx of religion into politics and a common belief that atheists are without morals. Please consider the importance of teaching that morality is possible without religion so that we can change this common misperception about those who are moral but do not subscribe to particular or similar faith.

March 19, 2008 10:33 AM

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