Thursday, May 30, 2013

From the Mouths of Babes

I rediscovered this video recently and it sent my thoughts in two directions.



My first thought was around how rapidly and drastically our environment is changing. And by environment I don't just mean the literal health of our planet but also society and how the increased connectivity has impacted our awareness and sometimes perhaps over exposure to what is happening all over the globe. I can't help but think that what shocked and inspired this young girl in the early 90's (granted her father is an environmental activist so she likely had more exposure than most) is now so common place that children are desensitized to the images and concepts before they even enter kindergarden. In 1992 I never would have thought that my 3 year old niece, who is barely out of diapers, would be able to operate a smartphone with no assistance...there are all sorts of articles and statistics about the impact of technology on kids and for the most part I think the benefits outweigh the risks developmentally, but I do wonder about the exposure factor and if it is desensitizing us as a culture. To be fair, on the flip side, there are definitely benefits to the increased connectivity, take for example, kiva.org where (now that we have this increased awareness of what is happening world wide) anyone can offer a micro loan to someone in a third world country where a mere $25 can save their business which also seemed far fetched in 1992.

The next thought was to remind myself of just how much kids are capable of. I know that I, for one, was not thinking much about these types of big issues when I was her age, I do think that at the time, in the early 90's she and her peers were in the minority for having set their sites on such real and global issues. But even so, the fact that she is there, speaking to these people...As adults it's so easy to diminish the validity of the concerns of kids or even how much of an impact they are capable of having. I know it's easy for me to minimize the thoughts and opinions of the kids in my life. But after watching something like this I can't help but find myself wanting to listen a little closer and encourage kids to get plugged in and pursue what's important to them, including taking action as big as speaking to the UN. It makes me want to commit to really listening to the kids in my life, and wherever possibly encouraging them to look for ways to improve the world around them.

16 comments:

PORTUGUESITO said...

The portugee economy is in the toilet, and droves of it's citizens are fleeing to neighboring Spain to work just to put food on the table! Those who don't go to Spain are swimming, or jumping on bannana boats to go to Angola or Mozambique just to sell their body for cod to feed their families. The slightly better off portugee are flying to Brasil to live in a favela that is much better than the poor, decrepid conditions they live in now; at least here they can eat.

The portugee are an ignorant bunch stuck in a mental time-warp that only focus on a national soccer team that has never won a single Euro or World Cup and "how" good things were in the distant past rather than focusing on their now deteriorated, non-existant economy, and how bad things really are today.

This is "why" they can't seem to see the log stuck in their eyes but see the splinters in everybody elses eyes. I do find it ironic that they are racist toward Spain, Angola, Mozambique and Brazil only to later go look for a better life in these countries!!


*stay away from portugal, dont do business there!

Unknown said...

Nice blog !!!
thanks for sharing
Thiet ke nha quan 2 | Thiet ke nha dep tai tp hcm | Nha pho dep o quan 7 |
Biet thu dep o quan 8 | Noi that dep |
Thiet ke nha dep o tan phu |

Gladys said...

Kids can be inspiring. Thanks for sharing!

Anita said...

Awesome and Informative blog.

Ascah said...

This is so good to hear from the young ones,am too worried that in years to come,our great grand children will no longer see animals since the forests are being cut and not to mention a lot of poaching that is destroying our animals and mostly affecting our environments.
everyone needs to hears this ,sharing it for more people to learn..Thanks for this.

Kimeli said...

Excellent!

MAIKO said...

still Portuguese economy can be revived and this will boost the business.There is still a chance http://estates.uonbi.ac.ke

Panharith said...

thanks for sharing!




goldenslot mobile
GCLUB

Pocket News said...

Hi! I’ve been following your weblog for a long time and from here I
Get the inspiration to go ahead. Just wanted to mention keep up the great job!
--
Thanks
Joseph Johns
No Moon Day Calender Team

Anonymous said...

نحن في حاجة ماسة إلى المتبرعين الكلى في مستشفى كوكيلابين الهند بمبلغ 450،000،00 $، لمزيد من المعلومات
البريد الإلكتروني: kokilabendhirubhaihospital@gmail.com
واتساب +91 7795833215
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
We are urgently in need of kidney donors in Kokilaben Hospital India for the sum of $450,000,00,For more info
Email: kokilabendhirubhaihospital@gmail.com
WhatsApp +91 7795833215

abo-bder said...




شركة تركيب اثاث ايكيا بالرياض
شركة تنظيف موكيت بالرياض
شركة تنظيف سجاد بالرياض

شركة تنظيف بالجبيل


reda gamal 01220689236 said...

شركة ركن الأمانة هي شركة سعودية لديها باعا كبيرا في كافة الخدمات المنزلية وخاصتا خدمات التنظيف وخدمات مكافحة الحشرات واليكم بعضا من خدمات
شركة تنظيف منازل بمحايل عسير
شركة مكافحة حشرات بنجران
شركة مكافحة حشرات بجازان
شركة مكافحة حشرات ببيشة
شركة مكافحة حشرات بابها

anosh said...

اسعار شركة تركيب اثاث ايكيا بالرياض
محلات تركيب ستائر بالرياض
محلات تركيب الباركيه بالرياض
تركيب غرف ايكيا بالرياض
ادوات تنظيف مكيفات اسبليت
تفصيل طاولات خشب بالرياض
شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الي البحرين
شركة تركيب عفش بالرياض
تركيب مطابخ ايكيا
شركة تركيب ستائر بالرياض

anosh said...

شركة غسيل مكيفات بالرياض
نجار غرف نوم بالرياض
شركة نقل اثاث خارج الرياض
شركة نقل اثاث داخل خارج الرياض
شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الي لبنان
شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الي الاردن
شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الي الامارات
شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الي البحرين
شركة نقل اثاث من الرياض الي قطر

pg auto said...

pg auto เกมพีจีสล็อตสล็อตออนไลน์ ที่มาในรูปแบบใหม่เป็นเกมส์ พีจี ยอดนิยมที่นิมยมเล่นกันบน โลกอินเตอร์เน็ตขณะนี้ ที่ใครๆต่างก็รู้จักนับเบอร์วันชั้น 1จำเป็นต้อง พีจีสล็อตแค่นั้น

pgslot เว็บตรง said...

pgslot เว็บตรง เกมส์สล็อตออนไลน์ เกมยอดนิยมจากผู้เล่นทั้งโลกตอนนี้ การเล่นสล็อตของคุณจะไม่มีเบื่ออีกต่อไป pg slot ขอแนะนำให้มาเล่นกับเว็บเรามีทางเลือกทั้งเกมเเละโปรโมชั่น