missing childhood

Sometimes you see things that make you think. And make you understand that the world is a lot bigger and more challenging than what we face day to day in our own lives.

And then when you start thinking about kids and what they face in schools and peer pressure and daily challenges you see something like this and it puts some things in life in perspective.

I don’t doubt that a kid’s life can seem pretty dark sometimes. But I also doubt we adults invest half the energy we should insuring we lighten their lives (because frankly we have our own shit we need to deal with). I am not suggesting we don’t try to shed some light (because, once again, frankly I have some friends who are awesome parents and invest so much energy into their kid’s lives that I am in awe of their energy and strength).

But.

I struggle to believe given what I see happen in our (adults) lives that we remember to see all the darkness in children’s lives.

And, in general, we can never do enough to insure we make sure it never gets too dark for our children.

Anyway. When I saw this it reminded me that kids grow up fast enough as it is and we should do anything we can possibly do to let them enjoy being a child. Sure. They need to understand that there are responsibilities and that life isn’t always easy. But every child deserves a childhood.

So.

When I see an image like this. And I read words like this. I admit. My heart breaks a little.

And makes me want to enlighten even more.

Just so I can do my part to eliminate some of the darkness.