No child wants to feel ostracized by their peers, but unfortunately embedded materialism in our society leads to other kids shaming yours for wearing jeans that aren’t straight off the rack. While it never feels good to be an outcast, it helps if your child understands just how sustainable and ecological their hand-me-down clothing is.
The Middle Child
Younger siblings are especially susceptible to hand-me-down clothing. They may feel left out as the oldest kid is bought fresh items while they’re left with whatever doesn’t fit their sibling anymore.
If your child appreciates the task of decision making, allow them to “pick out” the hand-me-down clothing themselves. They’ll be excited to have a choice and be eager to wear their new-to-them outfits with pride.
Meddling Materialistic Minors
Kids can be cruel, but that doesn’t mean yours can’t stand up to them. If your child is prepared with statements that assert the imperativeness of secondhand clothing in our highly materialistic world, they’ll pounce on judgmental bullies with ease.
Speak with your child and try these statements next time someone gives them a hard time about their clothes:
- My secondhand clothing is saving the world
- My family wears hand-me-downs because they are better for the planet
- There are too many clothes in the world, I’m slowing the production process
- What I wear is none of your business
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Hope From Hand-Me-Downs
The most important thing for your child to understand is that their choices cause a chain reaction of events. If they’ve decided to embrace secondhand clothing, that decision impacts the environment as well as the people who produce, package, and ship the clothes, and finally, those who sell them.
Choosing to slow down the cycle of clothing production by wearing hand-me-down clothes instead of always purchasing new items minimizes the use of harmful chemicals, reduces waste in landfills, and limits big fashion revenue.
More people turning to secondhand clothing is key to combat the immeasurable environmental devastation that the fashion industry has caused. Earth needs future generations to be proud to wear hand-me-downs.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Featured Photo: Kids Clothing Rack. Featured Photo Credit: Markus Spiske.
