On Preston Road in North Dallas, I was struck by the following signs next to each other:
FOR LEASE and TED CRUZ FOR SENATE
When did we start electing politicians that would sell out our children?
Sell out their health concerns to Big Pharma and health insurance companies that don’t care about wellness.
Sell out their educations to a Secretary of Education that doesn’t believe in education.
Sell out their safety to a gun lobby that doesn’t care about non-violence.
Look at the scorecard:
Defunding CHIP.
Leaving gun violence in school unaddressed.
Failing to provide public schools with the teachers, supplies, resources, and administrative personnel they need.
Cyberbullying and suicide statistics rise without combative strategies.
Proper food and nutrition fall to the wayside as cheaper, less beneficial food“stuff” is thrown in vats and distributed.
Ballooning student loans.
Dismantling fine arts and physical education programs.
Separating non-resident children from their families, placing them in communal centers with cages, asking them to represent themselves in a court of law, failing to cease even after hearing cries of “Mama” or “Papa.” Still, leaving them without families months and years later.
How will our children judge us? Look at what we have done to them and to children like them.
My son is too small to articulate his thoughts. He plays with all children. My nephews are a bit older. Still, they see children as children – not as white or brown, rich or poor, blond or brunette. Just children. They don’t qualify or clarify when they talk about kids and how things are tougher for kids than they should be. And, unfortunately, even they realize that the adults should be fixing these things.
They are reaping the toxic seeds we have selfishly sown.
Every time we allowed policies that hurt our children at the local level.
Every time we voted for state candidates focused on pleasing PACs instead of families.
Every time we failed to demand action from national representatives more interested in dinner than school lunch programs.
Every time we allowed inaction or disinterest to keep us from taking a well-informed step into the ballot box.
We failed them.
It’s not to late to get involved. Midterms are around the corner, then 2020. Sooner than that, you have a local school that probably needs a volunteer or a Big Brothers/Big Sisters that could use another mentor. There are always after school programs desperate for talents you probably possess. So, do it.
The World of Before You 