Last week, I read a quote off a tea bag and it made me think (FYI: Good Earth Tea is AWESOME).“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. ” –Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)
What would FDR say about the preparing our youth for the future today, if he was alive today??? I imagine after the shock of experiencing our modern day technological advantages with computers, cell phones, and video games that tend to monopolize the time of the modern youngster in America, he would say the same thing.
In essence, we do not know what our future will bring, but we can give our youth the ability to be prepared for what comes.
I hope our youth continues to grow in critical thinking, problem solving and compassionate understanding as we head to the unknown.
- Critical thinking clarifies goals, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, accomplishes actions, and assesses conclusions.
- Problem solving is a mental process which is the concluding part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping where problem is defined as a state of desire for the reaching of a definite goal from a present condition that either is not directly moving toward the goal, is far from it or needs more complex logic for finding a missing description of conditions or steps toward the goal
- Compassion is the virtue of empathy for the suffering of others. It is regarded as a fundamental part of human love, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism —foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.
One way “build our youth for the future”is to provide educational opportunities with the environment. It is an easy, yet profoundly influential way of growth.
Parents have you seen this helpful website from the Enviornmental Protection Agency (EPA), among many you can find when searching the web?
And, if you don’t have children at home, you can still be an active influence on our youth by sharing stories about nature and/or participating in community activities for the environment and youth. I hope you share some of upcoming opportunities at Prescott Creeks (such as our booth at the Farmer’s Market, One Man’s Treasure -upcycled art for children, and our annual Granite Creek Cleanup) with the youth you encounter in our community and help to “build our youth for the future.”