Hey all!
I know I’ve taken a break from social media and blogging while I’ve been working with an amazing team to completely overhaul my website. But I saw this picture on someone else’s Facebook feed, and I had to share it with you all. The image included the following text:
- Apologize to children when you are worng.
- Do not assume you’re smarter than a child simply because you’re older.
- Say thank you to children when they do something for others.
- Admit when you’ve made a mistake and admit it openly to them.
- Listen to children.
I love working with adolescents, because even though their brains are still developing, and they can be impulsive and all this stuff, our teens and children are still wonderfully intuitive and intelligent.
Treat them like the adults you want them to become. Treat them the way you always wanted to be treated as a kid, but never were. Give them our best shot. Whatever you might think of millennials and gen Z, they’re the future. Like it or not, this is it. They need love, compassion, guidance, wisdom, gentleness, and most of all respect.
We can give them this. We can help shape the future to be more amazing, not some impending doom.
Teens and children are absolutely inspiring. There’s a reason I’ve dedicated a large part of my career to them.
When I was younger, so many wonderful adults helped me become my best self and I owe them so, so much. They operated out of many of these principles.
Let’s let go of our pride, our need to be right, our need to be in control (while still holding good boundaries (yes, it is possible), and let’s help guide the future to be their best selves.