I’d like to begin this article with a line or two from the Whitney Houston song Greatest Love of All, written by Linda Creed, and Michael Masser:

I believe the children are our future.
Teach them well and let them lead the way.

Well-used similar phrases, although treated as trite cliches, resonate with far more truth than many will ever seriously consider.

The reality is that leaders who often speak this undeniable truth, and then embody its sentiment, are in fact paving the way to a better future.  John F. Kennedy once said, “Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”  In this way, it was thought that children will mold and shape society’s core values and the tenets that that future community hold dear.

In my opinion, it is through this lens, that we can hardly overestimate the importance of the wellbeing of this demographic, and yet very easily underestimate our own power of influence on them.   We don’t give ourselves enough credit for the power we have.

One particular group of people recognized both this power and the gravity of its impact on their community’s young.  They are a people who were admired for their fierce ability to defend themselves, and for their intelligence.  They are the Maasai people of Africa. They inherently recognize the important role children will ultimately play in the long-term survival of their people.  That recognition is evident in the greeting they continue to share when two from differing tribes meet. They will ask, “And how are the children?”  It is an acknowledgement of the high value they place on the well-being of their children. The ultimate response is, “All the children are well,” meaning that peace, calm, and safety prevail. And that the priority placed on protecting their young is intact.

“All the children are well” means that life is good, and that all of the other daily mundane struggles to survive do not preclude investing in a future that must continue to thrive.

I wonder what life would be like here in Canada if the decisions made by politicians at all levels were considerate of how it will impact children.  I will take it upon myself to ask my fellow colleagues in education, “And how are the children?” THAT is art & science combined.