Following the horrific shooting at a high school in Florida this past week, I would be remiss if I didn't post this week in honor of our children.
During my journey in education, the past 23 years, I have crossed all walks of thousands of children. Some of these children with backgrounds most of us couldn't even imagine, full of abuse and neglect. Children who have cried on my shoulder when their only parent was incarcerated at the wee hours of the morning for drug possession, while the child was transported, in the middle of the night, to a family they had never met before. A child who shed tears of joy with me when they were told they met all their graduation requirements, and they would be the first in their family to walk across the stage at graduation...even if there would be nobody at graduation to celebrate in this accomplishment with them...other than the teachers and myself who vowed to be their family on this special day.
You see, my friends, our children are gifts. They are gifts to us to nurture, to cherish, to love. They need all of us in an unconditional, compassionate, non judgemental way. They ARE our future. They are the next generation of leaders in our ever changing complex world. This is the generation of change...they will lead based on our belief in them and our love for them. We must model what we want to see in our world. Our children are always watching.
Love, compassion, and kindness are gestures every child deserves. Our mission should be to nurture these qualities around every corner. Often times, our children who need us the most are the children we judge and punish. Certainly, there are consequences for behavior; however, if consequences changed lives for the better, we would not need prisons. Love has the largest impact on positively changing a life, and our children in our community deserve our collective efforts. It is the only thing that has ever truly made a difference.
My tribute to every child in our community this week is a reminder of our collective responsibility. Love our children. They need every one of us.
