Our Most Valuable Asset

I get it. I want to start off by saying; I get it. As you read on, please refer back to my acknowledgment; I get it. I get the community think that got us here - did you hear? I get it!

The flyer that came across my desk that day was an invitation for an evening of rally and support for the youth of our community. There would be at this event, college admission people, career professionals, job developers, agencies encouraging volunteerism and a wide array of other professional competencies within our community - all assembling to reach our youth.

Sounds like a great idea - and it is.

It was the statement within the invitation though, that caught my attention. The statement was intended to be the rallying cry for all would be attenders. It was meant to raise awareness and solicit involvement;

Come out and support our communities most valuable asset, our youth.

I value the well known and oft told tale of the king who wanted a new robe for the annual parade. Long story short, the tailor assigned to the task convinced the king that the robe he made was the best robe any king had ever worn. By describing in explicit detail each thread, weave and color, he filled the kings mind with the splendor of the image he described - it was exactly what the king wanted to hear and wanted to see. The tailor carefully placed the robe on the king and stood him in front of the mirror. The king saw what the tailor was describing and it was exactly as he had imagined and hoped the robe would be.

The day of the parade the king was anxious to show his people the regal of his office by the robe he wore. As he paraded down main street, the townspeople all told the king what he wanted to hear; 'The robe was indeed beautiful', 'There has never been a more wonderful robe' they all said. It was the boy however, who only knew what his eyes told him and who was just crazy enough to say it out loud;

The king has no clothes!

Youth are NOT our most valuable asset - there I said it!

Presently, the 'youth parade' we've all been invited to is tantamount to the tailor in the story. Someone, somewhere in the past few decades stood the community in front of the mirror and wove in descriptive detail an image we all wanted to hear. My brothers and sisters brace yourself; on the topic of youth as our most valuable asset - we're naked as a jay-bird.

After years of repetitive community think, we have a ton of right people doing right things and for the right reasons regarding our youth. Unfortunately, as a community we are also completely going about it in all the wrong ways. The problem plaguing our youth has been correctly diagnosed; they're in trouble. But the 'tailor', or common held belief, has prescribed the wrong solution which is - let's focus on the youth. It makes sense; if the youth are in trouble, lets focus on the youth.

Like I said, I get it. I just don't accept it!

The right solution?? Seats and tray tables in the upright position please - brace yourself once again for impact;

It's parents! Parents are Our Most Valuable Asset.

More than home, more than family - it's parents. Presently in our society, parents in most cases and in reference to THEIR children, are talked to instead of talked with. They are often considered 'stake-holders' in THEIR children's education. Are too often thought of as a problem, rather than a solution regarding THEIR children, and ignored with prejudice rather than observed with distinction when it comes to THEIR children.

We have to change this. To be clear, I'm not talking about 'parenting' which focuses on what we want parents to do - I'm talking about focusing on the human being called parent.

Here's today's question; 'Isn't it time to fire the tailor?'

If you're interested in more, contact Liz at lsimon@cherrystreetmission.org and tell her you would like to sign up for the informational session I'm conducting on 'The Philip Project' scheduled for late May.

Dan
A Runner