Thank you

Hard to believe that anyone would read my nonsense for 19 years, but it is your DU birthday!

Deep like one of my paternal grandma’s favorites about hope and longing - freedom and justice. Unlike me she wanted it wherever.

A hero of mine when I was young. A man I respect for being brilliant and unafraid now that I am old. A legend! And exactly the type of person of character that the younger generations should become familiar with.

I know there is the "Malcolm X Paul Ribeson Academy" in Detroit. It has been described as "stress(ing) a child centered, culturally influenced, pedagogy designed to increase the academic and social development of children." A good school produces good young adults.

I remembered this quote overnight

"The true character of a society is revealed in how it. treats its children." ~ Nelson Mandela at the launch of. the Blue Train, Worcester Station , Worcester, South. Africa, 27 September 1997.

Terribly true

We can do better.

remains one of the artists I like the most.

I still pick it up again every now and then. Another keeper is A Book of Five Rings.

aware of The Prophet when reading A.S. Neill's "Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing." That book also introduced me to Erich Fromm.

I read it so long ago. I wonder how it would strike me today. It seems in my memory such a product of the times.

of our conversation here, I mentioned the book to my younger son. He asked me to show it to him the next time he stops by, so I searched my book cases and eventually found it. I had thought of the book when I used to transport my youngest to Wells College in upstate NY, as we passed throughthe small village of Summerhill. But flipping through the pages last night, I realized I haven't read it in half a century.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and story.

I appreciate that.

like the books of the Newest Testicle demand it, as proof you love god.

Only Herod, to make sure some "messiah" didn't slip in under his radar.

Still holds up today.

The arrow may begin its flight well and true, but it flies through a world of good and evil and many things in between.

How can the trajectory of a child's life not be affected by the indescribable hardships of war and the emotional trauma of seeing loved ones grotesquely killed by death from the sky or enemies at the gate?

"we tend to recognize those who kill babies and little children as extremely repulsive beings" -- but every one of those beings was once an innocent child.

Should not the efforts and resources of a civilized society be devoted to guide those trajectories towards a better future for every child regardless of their race, creed, or national origin?

If little babies are raised right, they generally do not grow up to be killers. There are some that do, of course, but not near the level that the world community is mass-producing today.

and I learned one thing that horrified me. The victims very often (I won't say always) end up as perpetrators.

One can look at this bit of information and think about it from many angles, all of it tragic and seemingly unending.

contract for DSS when I was at a non-profit many decades ago. My now adult children who have worked locally encounter the children and grandchildren of some of the kids I once worked with. It is a brutal cycle.

now we are witnessing it globally. It appears we have chosen for the entire world to be blind.

my good friend Rubin told me a story about sheep. The flock lived in fear of wolves. A shepherd who wanted to exploit the sheep without effort gypnotized the sheep, and told them they were lions.

I think of that frequently these days.

noted that shepherds tell the sheep to be afraid of wolves when in fact it is the shepherds who kill the sheep for human meals.😀

Thank you.

I have great respect for your contributions to DU, so this means a lot to me!

Children respond well to Joe Biden but they shrank away from Donald Trump.

Over the decades, I've trusted my dogs when it has come to people coming up my driveway. And children know.

My favorite book of all times....

K&R

can deepen one's understand of life.

In this age of sound bites and tweets, you offer us the rarity of deep insights and reflection. I thank you for the gift, and hope to enjoy your thoughtful posts for years to come.

Maybe a week or so ago, I was reading through a discussion on the internet, where one person stated that they were for peace. An internet school of piranhas immediately attacked the person for stating they were for peace. I thought I had stepped back into the late 1960s, when the pro- Vietnam War folks attacked those advocating for peace.

People's sense of humanity can dissolve on the internet.

We see people's sense of humanity dissolving daily, even here at DU.

Guys who had "long" hair became targets. But I was a top amateur boxer, and my late brother a professional. Our family has some funny stories about how fights with complete strangers turned out. Surprise, surprise! (grin)

I'm fine with differences of opinion, when discussed respectfully. And I know that the current situation is emotional. But as Ben Franklin said, when passions drive, let reason hold the reins. Some of the things I've read on DU lately suggest that some have no grasp of those reins that reason offers.

When I was around 24 I found out that I was pregnant. I was terrified because I had worked in our small town hospital in surgery and OB. Back then they strapped women down flat on their backs, during delivery, both legs and hands strapped down. My brother's wife had 2 home births. So, I began to study home birth. I treated my pregnancy like preparation for a marathon.
My sister had an artist friend pen Gibran's, On Children, in calligraphy for that birth. I've loved Gibran forever. Now, my only child is 42 and has the work hanging on her wall in her living room. BTW the birth was perfect, magical and the best thing that ever happened to me. It was the first time in my life where I took control and responsibility for my body. The outcome was so powerful.
On a side note, my daughter has told me that when she was young she would read that work which hung on my walls until she had her own children. She said she always resented the words, "Your children are not your children...." As a kid she was wondering what the hell is that supposed to mean??? Sorry for the over long story. 😏

No apology needed, as my posts are always the definition of "over long"!

Long ago, well before I bought this house, my then father-in-law owned this place. There is a bench between the desk where I'm sitting, and another desk. My sister-in-law gave birth to her youngest on the bench. And I loaned her my copy of Summerhill!

Stories about our lives are important to share here on DU. They remind us of our humanity. And so again, thank you!

There is such a variety of people on DU from all over the world. Many of which are incredible writers, I wonder sometimes if I do have anything to add to the conversations. 🙏✌🏼🤟🏻☺️

It made me think as well. Sometimes that is uncomfortable, but I appreciate the nudge.

We live in uncomfortable times, in my opinion. I think that is one of the reasons why really thinking about things is unpleasant at times. But being old, and opting to spend time sitting my my great-great grandfather's rocking chair, these are the thoughts that spin around in my head, demanding my attention. (grin)

(simplest view, because I have many views and gradations of views)

Parent rights do not trump full and proper care for children. Hence we ban "conversion therapy", for example.

Children have rights, for example, to read any book a librarian puts in their library, and many more than just those books. All the same, children are not fully formed or fully equipped to deal with some kinds of unforgiving realities (think bad judgement driving automobiles), so their rights are limited.

In Canada, the phrase "All children matter" is given greatest use and poignancy with reference to indigenous people and peoples. They have suffered so much at the hands of Residential Schools and other crimes.

Rights are shared, in that there has to be give and take. The right to expression is limited by consideration of harmful untruths (example vax lies) and exploitative production (example historical black musician royalties). The right to tax must respect the right of taxpayers to have their money spent responsibly and carefully for objectives that they collectively endorse.

The biggest "share" is that the majority -- of anything, in any form, at any time, in daily action not just voting -- must respect minorities. The tyranny of a majority can be a terrible thing.

So any supposed right of parents to bring up their children in any damn way they see fit is far away from the rights of children.

Thank you. And I see the others, and will get to them one at a time.

A true story: One morning, when my oldest son was in his homeroom at school, he was among a fairly large group of students identified by a police dog as having pot in his locker. My son was held alone in a room from a little before 9 am until after 2 pm. It turned out the dog had alerted on lip balm in my son's locker. Every parent's worst fear, that their kid will have lip balm in their locker.

I learned of this that evening. The next evening, I went to the school board meeting, accompanied by a co-worker. My friend was well versed in our state's public school laws, though not nearly as well as I was. Our employment made that necessary. I explained that under these circumstances, the school was legally obligated to contact me. The school's lawyer agreedthat I had that right, actually double as police were involved.

In family court, of course, parents also have rights. By way of employment, I would testify about 100 times in family court cases, usually coordinating with lawyers. I also went to family court myself, per custody of my children. So in those contexts -- and I know that you weren't addressing them -- it is important for parents to know their rights -- and responsibilities.

Parents do have both rights and responsibilities within the context of the family system, too. For example, we set bed times for little children on school nights, and curfews for our teenagers on weekends. But always, the point of discipline is to teach and instill self-discipline. It does not include the right to abuse one's child, although both of my sons considered listening to me when they did something wrong to be torture. I never had to raise my voice with my older daughter, and did only once with my younger daughter. I felt like shit afterwards.

My younger son was a crisis mental health worker at a large school district. When he'd visit, he often laughed and said that he used some of my lines when dealing with kids.

The book Summerhill is outstanding, including Erich Fromm's contribution. He goes into the distinctions between "freedom" and "license" when it comes to children's behaviors.. Your comment on reading library books fits right in to what Fromm said. By no coincidence, I first was introduced to Summerhill in my high school's library.

decisions mindful of our children and their future, the world would be a better place.

Thank you!

We have not inherited the Earth from our grandparents.
We are borrowing the Earth from our grandchildren.

of a line attributed to Chief Si'ahl, commonly known as Chief Seattle. “We don't inherit the earth, we borrow it from our children." is from his famous speech in the mid-1850's -- transcribed from notes at a later time -- in which he spoke of his people's attachment to the land and water they had lived on for many generations. That speech is frequently quoted by environmentalists, and I think it is important in considering the most recent violence between Israel and Gaza. In my opinion, both sides can relate to it; what may be missing is the understanding the other side can, too.