Love is Power

Working in an educational setting is so rewarding as I enjoy working with children and hopefully influence them to live out their dreams. This year has been a shocker for me. I've worked with students at elementary, middle and high schools. I love the students - all of them. To me, they are all children who can still learn. But adults, what are we teaching our younger generations? I've witnessed educators yell at students and be sassy with them. To be honest, I understand teachers' frustrations. I understand that they're unhappy and lack support from administrators and the community. Our teachers are overworked and underpaid. They do more than teach core subjects. They also have to discipline and some of these students need a lot of discipline. Some of these students act like they're only disciplined at school. What are we as parents exampling for our children? I see these children and some of them talk (yell is more like it) to each other like they're on a reality tv show. Are we modeling polite and graceful behaviors in front of our children? Are we monitoring what's on their phones and tvs? To be honest, I understand the struggles of parents and I understand the hardships that single parents go through. They're doing their best to provide the living essentials. They work long hours and get paid the bare minimum. As much as I understand what we as educators and parents go through, I also see us using our circumstances as an excuse to not do better for our youth. We can't control our circumstances, but we can control our actions. So even though our lives are hard, our youth is looking at us for hope. If we can all (parents and educators) treat each other and our children with respect and love, we will change their lives. My mother always used to say knowledge is power, but I truly believe LOVE is power! As we all know, love never fails. And if we display love towards our children and students, they will want to learn and be great students. But once we stop showing love, our students are no longer attracted to us and the education setting.

I also get that we are human and are not always perfect, but if we can remember to call on God for guidance during the challenging times, He will be there for us and show us what to do. We all make mistakes (I've lost my cool a few times), but as long as our heart and minds are in the right place we can do better. We just have to keep practicing the acts of love.

Our children did not bring any hardship on us. Whatever we are going through is not their fault. Whatever children are going through is not their fault. They are a blessing to us and to our world. Let us not forget that. So just like we wished they'd leave their attitude at the door, we also need to do the same. We are the adults. We are the educators and parents teaching our youth the way to be productive citizens, so let's hold ourselves to a higher standard and really understand that we truly impact our youth beyond our imagination. They are watching our every move, even when we think they're not.