“If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn what envy is.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient,
If children live with encouragement, they learn to be confident.
If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to find love in the world.
If children live with recognition, they learn to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn to be generous.
If children live with honesty and fairness, they learn what truth and justice are.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those around them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn that the world is a nice place in which to live.
If children live with serenity, they learn to have peace of mind.
With what are your children living?”
Children learn What They Live. Poem from
“Chicken Soup for the Soul” by Dorothy L. Nolte (1999:69)
99.99% Of children live with all phrases, and more, in second paragraph of Poem, in our households today BUT … there is the other, unfortunate, small minority … they who lie and know only the phrases in paragraph one, and worse … too many to mention. Our street children.
They, are everywhere, and the weather has changed, winter is moving in. Thin, torn, dirty clothes, broken shoes (if any). Children with skinny, dirty bodies an messy hair, lean hungry faces, broken dirty nails in equally dirty hands of which one is clutching the plastic bag with glue, trying to keep it out of sight, while the other is outstretches for money, food or … your cigarette stub.
Don’t scold them and chase them away without even a greeting. They belong to us, they are ours … yes ours. Don’t just wish them away, they won’t disappear, unless they’re dead of taken care of by the responsible people, please, you don’t have to put anything in that waiting hand but report it immediately, together with description of where you’ve seen them, gender and approximate age, to one of our Child Welfare Organizations or the Police, this will be their greatest gift, with no more hunger, no more cold, no more loneliness or the killing effect of sniffing glue.
PLEASE NOTE: The public can refer the children to us where they can shower, get clothes and be taken care of by our social workers.