When is Children’s Day?

On the internet I found: “On Dec. 14, 1954, a universal day dedicated to children was instituted by United Nation’s Resolution 836 (1X) as an observance of the understanding and brotherhood among all the children of the world.” We are told that Children’s Day is a day of the year to commemorate our most valuable resource, our children and ensure they are given the tools not only to survive but also to thrive in our society.

When I was contemplating this column, I found my favorite books about the importance of children being valued by society and raised by parents who appreciate children’s vulnerability and potential. I came upon Eda LeShan’s 1967 book, “The Conspiracy Against Childhood.” This book is even more relevant to the lives of today’s children. She wrote: “Our young are our own new beginnings, a testament to our trust in the future. The innocence, the delight, the wonder, the vitality, the openness to life, of childhood are necessary to us. Without them, we lose touch with what is young and tender and creative within ourselves. When we lose patience with childhood, and our joy in it, we lose touch with our inner selves, with our growing and becoming.” And especially poignant: “What we MUST learn is how we can use our technological knowledge for the good of mankind instead of for its destruction.” And this was in 1967! And: “What we need more crucially than ever before is basic education in learning to live with ourselves and others.”

What would Eda have to say now? With all of the electronic gadgets that our youth (not to mention their parents) are obsessed with, the proliferation of violent, sadistic and sexually explicit TV and movies, the increase in the number of parents who have to be or choose to be employed at the expense of their children, many schools that haven’t kept up with their needs, the widespread and horrific murders — especially in schools, places of worship and other gathering places, the proliferation of random slaughter by gun wielding psychopaths, etc., etc. — would no doubt cause her great suffering.

Children need time with their parents — parents who are willing to learn from them and they from their parents. The parents need to bond with them and, if necessary, give up some of their personal desires — especially during those preschool years. “As Piero Ferrucci wrote in “What Our Children Teach Us”: “A child feels her relationship with her parents with her whole being. If that relationship is polluted, the poisons circulate in her organism. If the atmosphere is chaotic, the child will grow in disharmony. If it is full of insecurities, she will live in anxiety.” 

And my favorite, “When the Bough Breaks” — “the cost of neglecting our children” by Sylvia Ann Hewlett, 1991: “ I make no apology for adopting the voices and vantage point of children. In 1991, they are the least heard and the most seriously disadvantaged group of our population. Besides, if we continue to squander children, we will incur huge costs in the quality and possibilities of our own adult lives. Child neglect diminishes our potential and our humanity. … True, some children continue to be raised in supportive communities by thoughtful, attentive parents, but the larger fact is that the whole drift of our society, our government policies, and our private adult choices is toward blighting our youngsters and stunting their potential. An anti-child spirit is loose in the land.” (This in 1991). “The critical task of building strong families can no longer be defined as a private endeavor. It is time to demonstrate in our laws and policies that we, as a nation, honor parents, value families and treasure our children.” Now in 2019, we are experiencing the decline that these authors feared, and, no doubt, one much more severe than they could imagine.

Let’s make Children’s Day every day.

Since 1984, Dorothy Dimitre has written more than 1,000 columns for various local newspapers. Her email address is gramsd@aceweb.com.