The World I Want for My Kids

As I read Sue Densmore's blog post this morning, I thought that I should lend my voice to the choir. My children are K and under and this thought is very near and dear to me. So,

I want a world where my children's ability to think is valued over what they think.

I want a world where my children's creativity will be more important than their ability to choose what is supposed to be the "best" answer as opposed to the "better" one.

I want a world where decisions about the educational future of my children will be made with the assistance of those who actually teach.

I want a world where their thoughts will be respected for what they are and not looked down upon by their peers, where believing in themselves and having confidence in what they want and believe in will gain the respect of those around them.

There are a number of things that I would want to change about world for my children, but I think that last one is the most important. It really does come down to a question of respect for themselves and their peers. Not just their peers in their town or school, but those beyond their local community and into the larger nation and world. The world is growing smaller and flatter daily, and just when you think it can't get any smaller and flatter, some piece of technology comes along to do just that. We had all better be willing to listen to what each other has to say because more and more of us are going to part of the discussion about the world that they want for their kids, and we had better hope that they respect us as much as we want them to respect us.

About this blog carnival: “The world I want for my children” is an effort to support The Joyful Heart Foundation, which was founded by Law & Order: SVU actress Mariska Hargitay to help victims of sexual assault mend their minds, bodies and spirits and reclaim their lives. Today, the foundation is at the forefront of an effort to end a disheartening backlog of tens of thousands of rape kits in labs across the country, a backlog that contributes to a rapist’s 80 percent chance of getting away with his crime. The backlog and its detrimental effects will be the topic of an SVU episode on September 29th.