What If?

We’ve been thinking a lot about children and families in our current social/political/cultural environment, because we know the children are always listening. What is being overheard in conversations between parents or friends, in the news on television or on the radio? What photographs are they seeing? What stories are they hearing? What impact does this have on our kids? What will this mean for schools in the fall? There is so much to be said, that for this blog post we decided to simply pose our thoughts as “what-if” questions. Perhaps you have some thoughts you’d be willing to share.

• What if mothers seeking asylum were free to be able to love and hold onto their children?
• What if children didn’t have to comfort their mothers?
• What if parents didn’t have to make the choice to flee their home countries?
• What if there was no place for parents to find safety?
• What if you had to do the same?
• What if our country had no diversity?
• What if we better understood the diversity of the original inhabitants of this country and our roles in the changes on this land?
• What if we felt safe talking about diversity?
• What if we understood our own part in the diversity of our country?
• What if children could maintain their innocence as they grow and experience the world around them?
• What if every day at school, every child was greeted with a smile and a big hug?
• What if every day all children were told that they can do it?
• What if we treated all children as though they matter?
• What if teachers had class sizes that allowed them to develop individualized instruction and deep relationships?
• What if education was truly valued by all?
• What if our society respected the role of educator?
• What if everyone had the courage to be open-minded?
• What if we could all put down the screens and go outside?
• What if education was less about control and more about collaboration?
• What if we put as much value on career paths in trades and skilled labor as we do on academics in college?
• What if we reversed the hierarchy of value in education so that the greatest emphasis is placed on the youngest learner?
• What if more Americans were engaged in responsibilities of citizenship?
• What if more American citizens were knowledgeable about the politics of our country?
• What if schools were more like spas and less like jails?
• What if everyone volunteered in an early education classroom for one day?
• What if everyone shadowed an elementary teacher for one day?
• What if we all lived the words to John Lennon’s “Imagine”?