| Why the children? Because they deserve our respect and love From the editor by Tim Miejan A colleague some time ago caught wind of an interview I was working on related to children, and he remarked, "I just don't get it...why are so many people talking about the children?" Maybe because they have children. Maybe because they find being around children to be so much more fun than being around adults. Maybe because children still have that spark of joy in their eyes. Maybe because they are the next generation. Maybe because it's important to share the concept of connection and love and watch children's eyes beam with acknowledgement that these things are important. I've written off and on about my experiences with my stepson Kyle, who is now 13 years old, during the past six years I've been with The EDGE. What I've learned is that it's never too late to do or say the right thing. If you feel you have made a mistake in how you've related to a youngster, be honest with him or her and try again. It may not seem like it, but kids have an unquenchable desire for love and support. The hard part is putting our adult egos aside so our love can flow freely. There is a recent global effort to increase awareness of the value of acknowledging children. The Good News Agency [www.goodnewsagency.org] recently reported on the Say Yes for Children campaign, which was launched this year as part of the Global Movement for Children. The Say Yes for Children campaign is designed to broaden awareness of issues affecting children worldwide and accelerate action on children's behalf. More than 40 million people worldwide have pledged support for children through the campaign, and most put "Educate every child" on top of their priorities. Pledges of support for this campaign will be taken to the first United Nations Special Session on Children by champions of Say Yes for Children -- influential public figures like Nelson Mandela. The UN's Special Session on Children had been scheduled to take place September 19-21, but it was postponed due to the events of September 11. "This is a postponement, not a cancellation. The General Assembly will reschedule this Special Session when the time is right. World leaders have shown they want it, and the children of the world surely deserve it," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. "...Today we remember that our children are our future, and we are heartened in the knowledge that by investing in them every day, by fighting for their health and well-being, for their education and protection, we are helping to build a stronger, healthier world." A UN report released earlier in the summer showed that many of the world's goals for children, set at the 1990 World Summit for Children, had not been fully achieved and that much work remained. Other groups, some not so clearly in the public eye as the United Nations and UNICEF, also have recently met to discuss our next generation. The October gathering in the Twin Cities of WE International, a group devoted to the support of Walk-ins and their families, recently focused an entire day of its conference on Indigo children, the young children whose unique nature sets them apart from previous generations of children. The indigo color carried in their auras represents intuition and psychic ability. "These are the children who are often rebellious to authority, nonconformist, extremely emotionally and sometimes physically sensitive or fragile, highly talented or academically gifted and often metaphysically gifted as well, usually intuitive, very often labeled ADD, either very empathic and compassionate or very cold and callous, and are wise beyond their years," writes Wendy Chapman of the Metagifted website [www.metagifted.org]. Whether you or your child are indigo or some other related hue, it is important that we all keep in mind that all children carry in their souls lifetimes of experience [on this planet or others], just as you and I do. Look deeply in their eyes and you might sense a soft, gentle probing for connection. Children are newly returned beings to this planet, and I often think it is they who are intent upon figuring out who this dysfunctional mass of adults truly thinks it is. Show them who you truly are -- not who you think you are or who you think you're expected to be in their presence. Be with them honestly, and try to connect with the awesomeness contained within them. Tim Miejan is editor of The EDGE. Contact him at (651) 578-8969 or e-mail editor@edgenews.com Copyright © 2001 Tim Miejan |
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