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September/October 2001 Spirituality
The Challenge of the Indigo Children

by Barbra Gilman

Barbra Gilman

What if every child who was born grew up healthy, happy, peaceful and free? What kind of world would this be? Unfortunately children are not born with a personalized manual attached to their little toe, and we simply step into parenthood, hoping for the best. Too often, we pass the unhealthy patterns we have inherited on to our children.

As we enter the new millennium, the forces which govern human evolution have thrown a new element into the mix, a new gift for the future of humanity and a new challenge for us all to embrace: the Indigo Children.

Who are the Indigo kids?

These new souls are coming on board in order to facilitate our transition to the next stage in the evolution of human consciousness. They are highly sensitive multidimensional beings, often with many talents and refined intuitive powers. Our children are more different from us than any in the span of recorded history. They are, as one woman said, gazing at an indigo infant, "born knowing."

What is it that the Indigo Children know which most of us do not? Indigo Children instinctively know who they are, what they need and what they feel is true. They know how human beings are supposed to treat each other. They expect people to be honoring and respectful. They do not under any circumstances respond well to lies or manipulation. Indigo children expect explanations and often will not settle for "Because I said so."And they do best when addressed in all ways as if they were adults.

When mistreated or misunderstood, Indigo Children tend to end up on Ritalin and other similar drugs designed for behavior modification. This kind of band-aid response to the needs and demands of our young people may make the school day and the afternoon at home more manageable, but how does it help our kids? It doesn’t. What it does is help adults maintain the status-quo.

But what is the status quo that adults are seeking to maintain? Is our world so perfectly balanced, so filled with peace and love that we can afford not to question our choices? Can we honestly afford to ignore the possibility that if our children are having difficulties we might be the ones who need to change? I don’t think so. In fact, I believe the future of our world depends on parents, teachers, and other adults who care about the welfare of children, developing the insight and behaviors necessary to empower these kids to develop their abilities to the utmost. And we need to be able to do this in full awareness that in many instances we have no idea what many of these abilities are because the Indigo children are often gifted in such novel ways.

What can we do? Educate ourselves. Read about the Indigo children. Explore our own childhood experiences both positive and negative. Grow as people. And most of all: be honest with ourselves and our kids. The new children know what they need, and if we stay open and learn to listen without defensiveness, they will tell us. Taking a child's point of view seriously may be new to many of us, but it may be precisely an Indigo point of view that our world needs most.

Barbra Gilman is a Certified Parent Educator and National Trainer with the International Network for Children and Families. She teaches ‘Redirecting Children’s Behavior’courses and trains people throughout the U.S. who are interested in becoming RCB teachers. Author of "The Unofficial Guide to Living Successfully on Planet Earth,".Barbra is also a contributing author to “Indigo Celebration” the sequel to “The Indigo Children” by Lee Carroll and Jan Tober. For information on upcoming courses in Portland call Barbra at: 888-826-8930 or visit her website www.BarbraGilman.com