What is a parent to do about making children a greater priority? The list seems endless. Here are a few ideas.

Communicate with Children
Let your children and those around you know that they are important. When they speak, give them your full attention. As you listen to what they have to say, you are communicating to them that they are persons of worth. People who are good communicators with children will often get on their level to speak with them. They may kneel on one knee to reduce the distance between adult and child and facilitate eye contact. This too says to children that they are important and worth listening to.

Welcome Children
Children feel welcome when we acknowledge their presence. Greet children as well as adults when you see them. So often parents do not take the time to acknowledge children in public. Many churches, for example, have greeters at their doors to welcome people coming for worship. Frequently, these greeters welcome other adults and ignore children. Children feel welcomed when they receive a special greeting too.

Celebrate Successes
Children feel important when we celebrate their successes. Children’s lives are filled with activities. Children feel valued when their successes are noted. Whether it is a victory in Little League, a dance trophy, or a good score on a test, parents will do well to celebrate the success of children. Special rewards, a special meal, or simply the earnest praise of a parent builds self-confidence, self-esteem, and a sense of self-worth.

Engage in Acts of Kindness
The prophets instruct us to engage in acts of kindness toward the vulnerable. Kind and charitable deeds toward children in your neighborhood, school, church, or community are certainly in order. Surprise your children and their friends with fresh baked cookies on a fall afternoon. Invite a child of a single parent to be your family’s guest at an amusement park, sporting event, or a special program. Do something special and unexpected for children you know.

Work for Justice
Be an informed voter on children’s issues. Write letters to legislators about issues affecting children in your community. Write letters to the editor of the local newspaper regarding the needs of the local schools. Did you know that for the price of a prison cell, 20 children could be sent to college? Did you know that for the price of putting a family on welfare, 20 children could be given tutoring and job training?

Volunteer
Volunteer to help in the local school as an assistant to the librarian, or a helper in the computer lab, or a playground monitor. Maybe you can serve as a school crossing guard and bring the children a smile every day. Some adults with construction ability may be interested in helping to rebuild school buildings in need of repair. A recent General Accounting Office report estimated that nearly 1/3 of American school buildings--serving 14 million students in cities, suburbs, and rural areas--need extensive repair or replacement of one or more buildings. There are plenty of ways that you can make a difference in the lives of children if you put your mind to it.

Start Something
Do you want to start something? Look at the needs of your community, and see how you can make a difference. Maybe you could start a telephone reassurance project through your church or school. Volunteers could staff a phone line for latchkey children to call after school.

Others might consider forming a child advocacy group. Get a group of parents together for coffee and refreshments on a monthly basis to talk about improving the life of the community’s most vulnerable children. Guest speakers from local organizations are willing to speak to your group, often without cost.

Get Your Church Involved
Churches should be the moral engine of a community. Get your church involved in making children a priority. Retrain your greeters to welcome children. Offer special bulletins just for children that relate to the theme of the day. Encourage church leaders to incorporate children in worship. Children can be used as greeters, sing in the choir, play instruments, read Scripture, or share their artwork. Opportunities for using children in worship abound. Children feel valued as they are invited to use their abilities and talents in their church.

Parents can also encourage their church to hold an annual children’s day emphasis. Fill the sanctuary with banners and colorful balloons. Allow the children to take charge of the worship service. This celebration of children can take many forms. Children’s Day can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Following a Children’s Day worship service in a suburban Ohio church, one senior adult beamed with enthusiasm, “Let’s do that again pastor. It was the best worship service I have attended in years!”

Making children a priority is vital to our national interests, is consistent with the call of the prophets, and builds strong and cohesive families and communities. Frederick Douglas had it right when he observed, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”