crazyheart
Whimsey - What if Children Ruled the World?
Posted on: 05/05/2009 22:06
POET AND PEACEMAKER MATTIE STEPANEK
Photo by Jim Hawkins
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Every journey begins
Facing the Future |
I came across this in a novel I was reading today.
"the rather intriguing notion of a world run by children. What would it actually be like? With children in charge of governmemnt, the law, education. What would they make of it, what would they do, what would they change? And how would they deal with adults who made such a hash of things?"
It made me think of Matty Stepanek - poet and peacemaker.
It made me think of BusyMom's son raising money to build wells in less fortunate countries.
It made me think of children who are without bias - don't know the isms ( racism, sexism etc.) unless it is taught to them
It reminds me of a 10 year old who was on a National task Group for the United Church that I was a member - a 10 year old who listened as we all did - then unlike we adults who hemmed and hawed, crossed i's, dotted t's, fussed and shilly shallied, cut through the baloney and said "The answer is clear. We should......"
It reminds me of children who practice Agape Love from the day they are born - We are the ones who take this and screw it up for them.
So, whimsical, as the question may be, think about it.What if Children Ruled The World?
Comments
Pinga
Posted on: 05/05/2009 22:23
well......there are many kids who are good.....but, i also remember 10 year old bullies......
i'm thinking the rules for hurting people would be tougher.
There would probably be a lot more black/white solutions...rather than grey.
Freundly-Giant
Posted on: 05/05/2009 22:24
Well, obviously it would pose it's problems, with the maturity level and what not, but I don't think the world has even imagined the level of peace that would come with children ruling the world. It reminds me of the simpsons episode where Ralph Wiggum, the "challenged" youngster, is nominated for president. At first, the smarter men and women of society reject him, but he turns them around when he says something along the lines of
"We can all just get along! When somebody tries to give us booboos, we can fight with words instead of actions."
IBelieve
Posted on: 05/05/2009 22:26
So, whimsical, as the question may be, think about it.What if Children Ruled The World?
They do!
boltupright
Posted on: 05/05/2009 22:39
So, whimsical, as the question may be, think about it.What if Children Ruled The World?
They do!
Ha! you beat me to it. LOL! I think the world is run by a bunch of very spoilt selfish little childeren that want everything their way!!!!
That is a beautiful poem by the way!
Bolt
Mate
Posted on: 05/05/2009 22:40
My problem is that we are to teach our children how to get along and respect each other regardles of agreement or disagreement and then we see "Question Period" on TV. Nice leadership examples!
Shalom
Mate
crazyheart
Posted on: 05/05/2009 23:05
maddy died of muscular Dystrophy, when he was 12 I think He wrote many poems.Here are a couple more
Heartsong
I Could ...
If They Would
send an e-mail to express your thoughts about Mattie.
9-11.2001
Arminius
Posted on: 05/05/2009 23:13
Most children reflect the values of their parents and socializers. In other words, parents will have to change in order for children to change.
Pinga
Posted on: 05/05/2009 23:53
CrazyHeart
I think that children who encounter the face of death early can be profound.
I spent time at sick kids in my teens, and i met some people who were living with chronic illness, challenges, and...they were much older than their years.
I also met those who were dying.
So, as I sat and pondered this more tonight, i thought, gosh, I wouldn't want chidren to rule the world.
I want kids to be kids...to love and see the beauty in all. To presume that people want to do what is right for everyone....
It kind of goes hand in hand with my rant over the letter to the editor ...I want kids to be allowed to be kids....not to be worried about going to the park..nor to be worried about ruling the world
bishop
Posted on: 05/06/2009 01:13
Arminius brings up a good point.
-crazyheart, I like your new avatar, It took me a second to notice the heart.
crazyheart
Posted on: 05/06/2009 09:10
Thank you bishop.
Yes, I agree with what you say, Pinga - Let kids be kids.
Kids only emulate what is taught to them so the responsibility, again, rests on society and parents. Scary thing when we see where adults have already taken this world.
Pinga
Posted on: 05/07/2009 20:58
It would be great tough, if we wouldn't lose that imagining that all is possible, the hope.
we, as adults, get jaded....we lose the ability to dream.
Arminius
Posted on: 05/08/2009 00:29
Hi Pinga:
They scolded me "daydreamer" when I was a child. But I didn't cave in to their demands for normalcy; I remained a daydreamer to this day. Daydreaming is my favourite activity.
eyesgluedshut
Posted on: 05/08/2009 15:04
I must say when I first entered this forum, and started pondering the question at hand
So, whimsical, as the question may be, think about it.What if Children Ruled The World?
I thought it might be a good idea to have kids run the world. They have a very carefree, "one hit, a few tears and we're freinds" way of looking at life. They do not think first of wars or violence, but rather how to be friends again.
But after some though, I changed my mind.
I agree with Pinga. Children should be allowed to be children. Although adults have pretty much demolished our world already, I think it is the way we raise our children. The ammount of young people out to change the world, out for peace and out for change now is largely due to the way they were raised.
Plus...if children were put in charge, they would quickly lose the qualities we so admire in them. That is a part of life that no one should have taken away from them, and I think if they were dealing with world issues thier smiles would harden and their thoughts would mature a lot quicker than anyone should.