I Am Your Child

Where will I go if you don’t lead me?
What will I do if you don’t teach me?
What will say if you don’t speak through me?
I am your child.
Will you watch as my heart bleeds for attention?
Will you ignore the obvious signs of neglect?
Will you push me away when I ask too many questions?
I am your child.
When will you hold my hand?
When am I too old to cry?
When am I too young to die?
I am your child.
Who can I turn to?
Who will stand for me?
Who are the ones who fight on my behalf?
I am your child.
Why do you close your eyes to reality?
Why are you not concerned?
Why do you do nothing?
I am your child.

The voices of children ask these questions. Who will answer? If we make an effort to be the answer more of our children will become successful adults. Some of us may say that “All the children in the world don’t belong to me. I’ve got my own” or “I don’t have any at all.” Just think, what if no one ever supported you, took the time to teach you or spent a little extra time with you or even treated you the least bit special. What kind of person would you be? If no one has ever done these things what kind of issues are you dealing with today? We have to take care of our children. This care usually starts at home where the first stages of education take place. School is often a second home to many children. For this reason, school administration and staff should maintain good education for the mind and exceptional care for the soul.
How bad does a child feel when they know that their reading level is not up to par with their classmates? Not to mention if a student doesn’t even recognize letters in order to create words.
Here in Nicaragua, according to “Literacy in Nicaragua” by Juan Arrien, the illiteracy rate was 53% (for the population over the age of 10) until the end of the 1970’s. The year 1980 became known as the “Literacy Year”. This was a project of the Sandinista People’s Revolution. It “… considered literacy to be a human right…to his/ her freedom and self-affirmation…” How can we affirm our children when they don’t know how to read? This is a basic right and a basic teachable skill. Through the efforts of this project the illiteracy rate dropped 12% within the year.
No matter what the rate is now, I personally came in contact with too many children who are seriously underserved. Many children in the school that I volunteered didn’t know how to read or recognize colors, shapes and numbers.
But what do we do when children are kept home from school because their parents need them to work? What do we do when students don’t want to work with volunteers in their schools because they are too ashamed of what they don’t know?
I don’t have all the answers but I know that I take one day at a time, one student at time and I affirm them through instruction until that bright light is illuminated and they know more than they did before they met me.
Marcella