Encouraging children to take a hand in shaping their future

Rep. Mia A. Ackerman
Posted 9/17/15

On any given day, you can walk through the halls of the Rhode Island State House and find a group of young children taking a tour and learning about the history and government of their state.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Encouraging children to take a hand in shaping their future

Posted

On any given day, you can walk through the halls of the Rhode Island State House and find a group of young children taking a tour and learning about the history and government of their state.

What you seldom see at the State House are high school-age children. That’s become a growing concern to me, because every time I walk into the House chamber, I think about the future of the state and wonder who will take the reins.

It is undeniably the job of parents and teachers to make sure children have the tools to be good and productive adults – to make the right personal decisions, and most importantly, understand and appreciate their rights and responsibilities as citizens.

There is another tool I think is underutilized in today’s society – a tremendous, untapped resource that can do wonders to help young people reach their full potential. I’m talking about the rest of us: professionals, business people, politicians, activists and community leaders.

It’s simply not enough to give children the tools to be productive members of society; we have to encourage them to use those tools while they are still young. And who better than we adults to mentor them and encourage them to take a stronger hand in shaping their own destiny?

Rather than just showing young people how things are done, we need to engage them in a way that makes them part of the process – to let them know they can have a say not only in their own destinies, but that of their communities, their country and the whole world. Education is not a passive activity. Learning requires exploration, and the best way to generate interest in the process is by letting them be a part of the process.

For six years, I mentored a youth commission. When public service brought me to the State House, I established a Youth Advisory Board, because I believe it is of the utmost importance to keep young people active and engaged in the world that they’ll be inheriting.

Nothing can take the place of hands-on experience under the guidance of an expert – one who can put actual problems and experiences in the real-world context of everyday life. This way, young people can benefit from the wisdom and experience of these adults. I we don’t then we’re just wasting a tremendous resource. Public servants should be doing everything they can not only to make sure young people know how their government works, but to instill the desire to participate.

Government is just one arena where children can benefit from the wisdom of adults. Business, law, medicine, science, engineering, charitable organizations are all filled with people who can show our youth just how rewarding these fields can be. More importantly, they can give a tremendous gift to today’s disaffected youth: the knowledge that they really can have a say in their own future – that they can make the decisions that will ultimately put them where they want to be, whether that place happens to be in an operating room, in the cockpit of a plane, the courtroom or the legislative chamber.

How children are engaged in the process now will determine how they solve problems and set policy in the future. It’s not enough for us to be there for them, we have to show them how to be there for themselves.

Mia A. Ackerman is a Democratic state representative from District 45, representing Cumberland and Lincoln. She resides in Cumberland.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here