It Takes ALL of Us
The Search Institute here in the Twin Cities has developed what they call the Forty Developmental Assets that help grow healthy children and youth. A number of these relate to the community that the children (and all of us!) live in. Johann Cristoph Arnold at Bruderhof.com had a post a few weeks ago about computers and their potentially deadening impact on children. While I don't entirely agree, he ended the article with a wonderful plea to all of us who have the opportunity to spend any time at all with children. What he said fits right in with the Search Institutes findings. It is a cliche to say that "it takes a village..." but it is a cliche because it is true.

The students are back in school, but that doesn't mean that they need the rest of the community any less....

The next time you meet a child, stop to say hello and ask them how they’re doing. Get them to talk and laugh—and laugh with them. The children around us need our attention now. Noticing them and spending time with them should not be postponed, and will pay back dividends that computers never will.