Thursday, February 18, 2016

JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS FOR CHILDREN: beyond parenting

Children are one of the last groups in the world to require the support and awareness of the adult world to be seen and treated as complete human beings, whole at birth, exquisitely sensitive.  I was a "children" once and I always sensed when the adults around me were with me, not at me.  

Sexism and racism are easily described.  I'm thinkin' no label at all for young people, or younger people.  When I was a little human, as early as two years of age, I, like most younger people, could sense and feel when the big people around me
 

LISTENING ALL THE WAY IN

BLENDED COLORS

A seven-year-old African American boy was sitting across from his white mom, just a few feet away from me, in a coffee shop.  They were engaged in serious conversation.  She was listening intently, completely present with him, as his hands animated his words. They faced each other directly, their eyes in constant contact.  

At first, I simply appreciated seeing the blended color family being with each other.  Then my attention shifted to how their eyes met....how the mother was so completely engaged with her son and his animated way of telling her a story.  She was genuinely with him completely; her body posture suggesting she wanted to be exactly where she was. 

I saw no age difference.  I imagined what he or any child must feel like when an adult person, parent or not, is honestly present, and wants to be.  She was not only listening, she was hearing him with her eyes as well.  She cared about what he was saying.  No hurry.  No rushing.  No busyness....just her presence in his world...and his presence in her world.  She even leaned forward a bit to be closer to him.