Motivation Mondays: Honoring Universal Children’s Day

“The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard.” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Motivation Mondays: Honoring Universal Children’s Day – They are the future

Motivation Mondays: Honoring Universal Children’s Day – They are the future

By resolution 836(IX) of 14 December 1954, the General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children’s Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children … The date 20 November, marks the day on which the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989. It is also the day when the adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.UNO

What does Honoring All Children mean to you? Given the horrific acts of violence we have seen around the world, recently, it is apropos that we seize this opportunity to stand together to support this year’s theme for Universal Children’s Day which is to: Stop Violence Against Children.  Established by the United Nations (UN) in 1954, the focus of this special, designated day is to remind us all to promote the welfare of children everywhere and encourage understanding between children around the world. We live in an increasingly divisive world with factions created on all sides and hate-spewing taking front and center over compassion and common sense. We cannot place all the burden on the shoulders of our leaders because the work MUST begin in our homes and in our hearts. Children often imitate adult behavior and they remember old slights and prejudicial treatment. They observe the way we live and either model it or abhor it. They have a natural tendency to speak the truth unless they have been silenced by adults who prefer to hide behind lies. We can learn from the innocent spirit of children and protect that spirit by feeding and fueling it with messages of goodwill and humane action or we can feed our children inherited poison and rage and miss an opportunity for authentic growth.

A Story: We Are Our Children’s Examples
“The boat is coming to take me home because I have failed in my studies here at the monastery,” said the boy to his teacher. “What can I say to my family?”
“Say that you did your best and that is as much as anyone can do,” answered the teacher.
“But I wanted to be a famous monk and teach others.”
“You can.”
“How?” asked the sad boy.
“Live from your heart. I will show you. Do you see that boat making its way across the lake with the sun setting behind it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you see its wake spreading across the lake? See how the boat looks like the apex of a golden triangle as the wake fans out from its bow.”
“Sort of.”
“Squint,” said the teacher. “That boat is you as you leave the monastery. The lake is your life. The wake is the effect that you will have on the world. Each ripple triggers another ripple, which triggers another. By constantly striving to live as wise and loving of a life as you can, you can teach the path of love to everyone you meet simply by being yourself; a few of these people will pass on your good example to others. Thus the expanding golden wake of good works begets other good works. Most important, notice how each ripple catches the sun and bounces its light back to heaven…”
“Would you come home with me and explain all of this to my father?” asked the boy. Zen Stories via Read.Goodweb

“If we wish to create a lasting peace, we must begin with the children.” Mahatma Gandhi

Motivation Mondays: Honoring Universal Children’s Day – They are the future

Motivation Mondays: Honoring Universal Children’s Day – They are the future

Ask courageous questions. Do not be satisfied with superficial answers. Be open to wonder and at the same time subject all claims to knowledge, without exception, to critical scrutiny. Be aware of human fallibility. Cherish your species and your planet. Carl Sagan
Business as usual is not enough to make the vision of the Convention a reality for all children. The world needs new ideas and approaches, and the Convention must become a guiding document for every human being in every nation. We still need attention in the following areas: Child Rights, Health, Child Survival, Sanitation, Child Rights, Education, Children with disabilities, Vaccination, Clean Water, Migration, Freedom to Participate, Underweight Issues, Poverty, Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), Mother-to-child transmission of HIV, Maternal death, Corporal punishment in schools, Early childhood education, Sports and play, Child labor, Immunization, Birth registration, Overall health and health services. UNICEF

How Motivated are You to ensure that all children are protected and valued? What verbal/non-verbal messages are we passing on to our children? Are we teaching our children to find healthier alternatives to violence? What are we saying and doing behind closed doors to fuel the hatred and stem the effort at peaceful global co-existence? How are we contributing, in a concrete way, to global peace? Regardless of what we believe about people who are not like “Us,” we are all part of a global community that can only be peacefully sustained by collective effort and action to uphold PEACE. If we continue to participate in a divide and conquer approach to global relationships, we will leave a fragmented, chaotic world to our children and a tenuous future for us all. Like so many others globally, my heart bleeds from being a witness, albeit from a distance, to the acts of violence and disregard for human life that we continue to see around the world. Children are caught in the middle of it all and the human toll and the pain and suffering continues to escalate. Carl Sagan’s message speaks to our minds and hearts and is a timely reminder to treat all with compassion and consideration.

The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for October and November are:

10/05 – SMILE – World Smile Day
10/12 – DISCOVER – Columbus Day
10/19 – COMMUNITY – UN Day & Make A Difference Day
10/26 – FEAR – Halloween Day

11/02 – LEGACY/REMEMBRANCE – All Souls/All Saints Day (11/1)
11/09 – HONORING VETERANS – Veteran’s Day (11/11) &
11/16 –  HONORING ALL/OUR CHILDREN – Universal Children’s Day/World Children’s Day (11/20) & Great American Smokeout Day (11/19)
11/23 – GIVING THANKS – Thanksgiving Day! (11/26)
11/30 – REVISIT KINDNESS – World Kindness Day (11/13)

More Below!
“We are a continuum. Just as we reach back to our ancestors for our fundamental values, so we, as guardians of that legacy, must reach ahead to our children and their children. And we do so with a sense of sacredness in that reaching.” Paul Tsongas

Motivation Mondays: Honoring Universal Children’s Day – They are the future

Motivation Mondays: Honoring Universal Children’s Day – They are the future

According to UNICEF, every year millions of children around the world become victims of untold violence. Children in every country, every culture and at every social level face various forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. The abuse takes place at home, in school, in institutions, at work, in the community, in armed conflict and natural disasters. Much violence against children, such as corporal punishment and sexual abuse, remains legal and socially approved in many countries. The violence children face takes many forms, such as exploitation and abuse, trafficking, physical and humiliating punishment, harmful traditional practices (including early marriage and genital mutilation/cutting) and recruitment into armed forces and groups. via Savethechildren.org

As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we must keep in mind that many areas of childhood life are fraught with risks and violence. We need to come together as parents, siblings, lawmakers and leaders and serve as advocates for all our children. The events that led to the loss of life in Paris, Beirut, Ankara, Darfur, Haiti, Iraq, Nigeria and many, many nations around the world have had an impact on us and on children in those nations. The perpetrators were once children too and we cannot ignore the implication that we all have a responsibility to raise our children in homes where peace is the fundamental message we teach and live.  We need to address these acts of violence in our homes, schools, communities and globally. We cannot speak violence into the hearts of children and remain immune from the consequences. We must  all come together to win this battle against peace and safety. Please do your part as you celebrate this special day. Don’t forget the children and families who lost lives and loved ones around the world.

Positive Motivation Tip: All children matter and each child deserves to inherit a world free of violence and acts of hatred. Each of us has a responsibility to make this a reality.

Motivation Mondays is open to anyone who wishes to share a motivational quote, photo, personal challenge or a post that encourages others to start the week on an upbeat note.
Basic Instructions: Each week, I will have a motivation word to help us create a response. (See listed words for the months above/below)
Email address: You may email or share your post as a comment and I will add it to the round-up of related posts. email it to: contact(@)mirthandmotivation(.)com
Category tag: – Share your post using Motivation Mondays
Twitter hashtag: – Use this on Twitter #MotvnM
Dedicated Page: There is a dedicated page for Motivation Mondays. It has the same instructions and will include other helpful tools and a link to the round-up
Facebook Page: MotivationOnMondays Join our page and add your post and/or any motivational piece you think will be helpful to others.
Facebook Community: We have a Facebook community forum to compliment the page. It serves as another way to share uplifting posts and thoughts. Please join in and add your voice.

Badge: – I created a fun badge using PicMonkey’s free photo editing tools. You can create your own, use WordPress’ integrated tool on your blog or you are welcome to use mine. (see dedicated page)
Tag: – Motivation Mondays
Hashtag: – #MotvnM

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PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos: Kids,  Namibian children, Green Peace, Continents, Panema Embera, Public Domain Free | Attribution Photos  and/or via Wikipedia, Happy Universal Children’s Day via quoteswithimages.org and/or from my Personal Collection.

Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet