Our Best Future Prevention Offensive

When I dropped her off at leadership camp, and she gave me a thumbs up at the building door before she went in, I was so proud. She'd been nervous for days and my wife Amy helped prep her of what to expect by having her read through the provided camp materials ahead of time. We both gave her advice on how to be herself around others, the possible icebreakers they may do on day one. No matter how much she knows, the new unknown is stressful for her (just like it was for me at her age).  

Day one came and went and Beatrice our oldest at 13 did just fine, getting to know the other students and her teachers throughout the rest of the week. This leadership camp was to prep her to become junior leader for a summer day camp where she'll be working with kids 7 and 8 years old. Part of her prep training was mandated reporter training, to be able to recognize and report child abuse. There were specific examples and statistics she'd never seen before.

This was eye-opening for her, to learn what happens to some kids growing up. Of course, she's grown up practicing Kidpower as a family and all the emotional, psychological, and physical safety skills it teaches. But that was more hypothetical situations, what happens if. Because both our children are only now becoming more aware of the world around them, they have more specific questions for us as to why people do horrific things to others. 

Beatrice and the other leadership students also had active shooter training. This year alone there have been over 250 mass shootings, and we're not quite halfway through the year. When I wrote about Bryce's 5th grade graduation just a few weeks earlier, there were just over 210. This is a devastating reality for Americans today and our children specifically. 

Of course we don't want our kids (or us) to live in fear everyday in this country, but it is important now more than ever to keep them (and us) educated about personal safety skills. In a polarized world of divisive social and political issues, of ongoing misogyny and patriarchy inciting mostly young boys and men to violence, we are a tinderbox full of deadly fireworks always aflame. 

Which is one reason why I wanted to watch the January 6 committee primetime hearing at dinner with my family. I watched it happened live in 2021 and am still haunted by all the hate and the ultimate coordinated goal of a fascist overthrow. When the committee hearing showed how the day played out on video, how it escalated when the mob attacked the U.S. Capitol police and then the Capitol itself, our children were mortified and wanted to know how this could happen in America. 

That was a tough one for me. The good news is that we've helped our children understand that in America people have the 1st amendment right to speak their minds. We've helped them to understand the differences between the peaceful protests that we've been a part of as a family, and those that spiral into chaos and violence. We've also helped them to understand the differences between truth and lies, inclusion and oppression, empowerment and control. 

No matter our own biases that may get in the way of helping our children understand the world, the burden is still on us to keep our children educated and safe, to support their individuality and continuous growth, and to encourage them to be fair and compassionate people. Beatrice going to leadership camp to work with younger children is definitely a plus. From child abuse, to intimate partner violence, to gun violence, to hate-filled insurrections, our children are our best future prevention offensive.