Will We Lead the Children?
With all the talk about who the leaders and role models are and should be for young people, there is certainly a strong case to be made that every responsible adult who comes in contact with a school age child bears some measure of accountability for imparting guidance and being an effective example. Too much focus is placed on declaring national and symbolic leadership, while the most meaningful behavior modeling and life counseling has always taken place in homes, communities of faith, and neighborhoods. For years, professional athletes, celebrities, civic leaders, and even politicians have been thrust into roles as spokespersons whereby they attempt to communicate to our youth what is important in their formative years and life as a whole. The degree of moral decay, lack of integrity, irresponsibility, and sheer ignorance displayed by so many of these self-proclaimed role models and leaders is essentially a clarion call to every responsible adult in every community across the country to take a stand for the sake of our children's futures. We can no longer stand by idly and witness the negative impact that these individuals' decadent agendas, values and priorities are having on the hearts and minds of young people. Enough is enough!
We need to dispel the prevailing myths that only certain groups and classes of people have something of value or importance to share or communicate to youth. There are countless examples of formal and informal approaches to interacting with, guiding, and advising youth in neighborhoods. Where space is available, people should begin to open their homes to children afterschool to read to them, assist with homework assignments, or simply share history and lessons in life. Where playgrounds exist, grownups should volunteer to just hang around and offer advice on any topic of interest to kids, as a way to begin ongoing dialogue. Community centers should continue to canvass neighborhoods to recruit youth for all kinds of gatherings and activities. Communities of faith should maintain their commitment to developing outreach programs that integrate morals and values building. As responsible adults, we are going to have to go and get the children, we cannot wait on them to show up at our doorsteps. These steps can and should be taken by everyday people from all walks of life. No particular class or group of people has a monopoly when it comes to leading our children. Anyone who has been blessed enough to have reached an adult age has some lessons and advice to share with youth. Our task is to be about the business of modeling appropriate behavior, instilling standards of excellence and integrity, teaching high moral and ethical values, and displaying personal responsibility for the younger members of our communities.
We need to dispel the prevailing myths that only certain groups and classes of people have something of value or importance to share or communicate to youth. There are countless examples of formal and informal approaches to interacting with, guiding, and advising youth in neighborhoods. Where space is available, people should begin to open their homes to children afterschool to read to them, assist with homework assignments, or simply share history and lessons in life. Where playgrounds exist, grownups should volunteer to just hang around and offer advice on any topic of interest to kids, as a way to begin ongoing dialogue. Community centers should continue to canvass neighborhoods to recruit youth for all kinds of gatherings and activities. Communities of faith should maintain their commitment to developing outreach programs that integrate morals and values building. As responsible adults, we are going to have to go and get the children, we cannot wait on them to show up at our doorsteps. These steps can and should be taken by everyday people from all walks of life. No particular class or group of people has a monopoly when it comes to leading our children. Anyone who has been blessed enough to have reached an adult age has some lessons and advice to share with youth. Our task is to be about the business of modeling appropriate behavior, instilling standards of excellence and integrity, teaching high moral and ethical values, and displaying personal responsibility for the younger members of our communities.
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