Today’s playmates; tomorrow’s citizens and leaders.
2020 has been rough on all of us but especially kids. According to the National Library of Medicine (NIH), children were hit the hardest by psychosocial factors. “Being quarantined in homes and institutions may impose greater psychological burden than the physical sufferings caused by the virus. School closure, lack of outdoor activity, aberrant dietary and sleeping habits are likely to disrupt children’s usual lifestyle and can potentially promote monotony, distress, impatience, annoyance and varied neuropsychiatric manifestations. Incidences of domestic violence, child abuse, adulterated online contents are on the rise.”
To underscore the critical importance of securing a better experience for kids going forward, I selected some perspectives and insights from notable individuals.
There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. — Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa
Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them. — Lady Bird Johnson, Former First Lady of the United States
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. — Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and statesman
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. — James Baldwin, novelist and social critic
Children are our most valuable resource. — Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States
The best way to make children good is to make them happy. — Oscar Wilde, author and poet
Only where children gather is there any real chance of fun. — Mignon McLaughlin, journalist and author
Anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me. — Fred Rogers, television personality
If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales. — Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist
If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children. — Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader
For details on how to help children in the coming years I recommend a Harvard study. It examined the impact of the pandemic on children, youth and families with recommended principles to “Improve outcomes for youth at the practice/community, systems and policy levels.”
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