Expert Online Training

Kids Lives Matter

David Malter | November 4, 2016

We are very proud to share this thought provoking article in the St. Louis Dispatch written by Expert Online Training Faculty member, Kevin Gordon.

Anxiety and animosity regarding race, gender and inequality are approaching a tipping point. Last month, there was another black person killed by another white police officer. I wish this were an isolated act or a new story, but it’s not; daily, we learn about another horrific act targeting a minority group.

And don’t look at social media commentary for a respite; that’s just more of the same, and maybe even worse, since the faceless unaccountability there seems to embolden haters of all types.

However, instead of being devastated, we can act. Instead of continuing the divisiveness, we can find commonality, healing and togetherness. We can invoke change that we work together to facilitate.

Instead of arguing whether Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter, most can agree that Kids Lives Matter. To combat violence and discrimination, we must empower children with cultural competence and incorporate temperance and understanding into our tomorrow. By focusing on youth, we can harness the power of establishing social change so we can move from hating and work toward celebration by cultivating a respectful and appreciative environment.

We’ve arrived at a crisis point because of segmentation. Left to our own devices (literally), it is easy for us to be connected only through our electronics, and stay hidden behind screens, where it’s too easy to depersonalize the “other.” It is too easy to misunderstand when you don’t see actual people on the other side. It’s too easy to reinforce only our narrow viewpoints.

I know that Kids Lives Matter and can be the answer; as the owner/director of a multicultural summer camp for children, I’ve seen how direct, early interaction can increase understanding and empathy. I’ve witnessed how kids of various racial, ethnic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds can live, work and play together.

Unlike with most adults, it is easier to challenge kids’ thought processes. Before they become older and less flexible, children can reach their own conclusions and more readily accept, respect and love others. When kids come to camp, we remove those electronic screens and intentionally involve children of diverse backgrounds with each other. These interactions encompass socio-emotional and physical challenges, forcing them to stretch comfort zones.

Indeed, these direct interactions may be the only answer; unless we’re intentional about it, kids are not taught within their school curriculum or elsewhere about cultures beyond the dominant narrative. Kids (and adults) tend to form cliques so they fit in, rather than pushing themselves to stretch uncomfortable cultural, social and sometimes physical boundaries. Because our differences often speak louder than our similarities, this intentionality is key to helping us appreciate our commonalities, thus giving us leeway when differences might be hard.

When we’re intentional about it, like at camp, we see how children can move from fearing difference to embracing it, from gathering based only on surface similarities to going deeper and connecting based on more in-depth connections.

In this era of segmentation and sequestration, we need to discourage segregation of thought. To move forward powerfully, we need to continue to find answers instead of anger, and engender empowerment instead of resentment. If we focus on bringing kids together to facilitate a better future, we may be alright. We have to do this soon because Kids Lives Matter.

Kevin Gordon is the owner/director of Camp Kupugani Multicultural Summer Camp in Leaf River, Ill. He is a former vice president of the American Camp Association Illinois Section

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/kids-lives-matter/article_1cfe2b9a-52c2-5925-8e10-25087ca54241.html

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