Is this what we are teaching our children?

I recently posted the following on my Facebook page:

In the end, we must strive for our capacity to love to be the thing for which we are remembered, not our capacity to hate and to hurt.

The very next day I was confronted by the news of a shocking image that was posted to twitter. The picture was that of a young boy holding the head of a decapitated soldier.

Is this what we are teaching our children?

Are we allowing them to continue to hate and despise for the simple reason that this is what we have always done? At what point do we say enough is enough? If we wish for future generations to live in peace then we must take the first step. Not just individually but collectively. Every mother, every father, every citizen must make a conscious decision to not allow our children to grow up with hate in their heart.

We need to pass on uplifting ideals, such as tolerance and acceptance. We need to produce future leaders who have sympathy, empathy and compassion. We need to create a world that is free from the hostility, greed and disrespect that is so pervasive in society right now. So I return my thoughts to those I opened with: Do I show my son my capacity for love or do I teach him that hate is normal and to hurt others is ok?

I would like to think that it is the former, rather than the latter. I hope that my son, who is not much older than the boy which was pictured in the image which disturbed me so greatly, grows up to be a well-rounded, generous, caring citizen of the world. Still, my heart weeps for the children of fathers who proudly display such pictures and who fill their childhood with an unbridled hate which I cannot behin to fathom.

I don't want to shed another tear for another child consumed by their parents hate and I don't want my child to shed a tear for another child in a generations time.

Can someone explain to me why I must? Or why my child must?

Because I do not understand at all.