Advocacy Messages

Wow. As I looked over the site, www.adcouncil.org, I could not help but notice the number of advocacy messages out there right now.

The first I chose is "you don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent." This message is in regard the large number of children in the foster care system, and those within the system waiting to be adopted. I have always said that a child's family can be our biggest supporter as educators and families can be our best partners. Additionally, I currently know of children who are in the foster care system waiting to be adopted by the families that take care of them so it is a matter that 'hits home' for me. Children, no matter their ages, need to know they are loved, cared for, and supported. Those children that get 'bounced around' from place to place do not have that stability and may not feel they are loved and supported thus leading to difficulties in the classroom. Through this campaign and the website, www.adoptuskids.org, more attention and awareness is given to foster care and adoption which will hopefully lead to more children being placed in loving caring supportive family environments.

The second I chose is "every beat matters." This campaign is to raise awareness of the significance of health care for children under the age of 5. When I read about this campaign, my heart broke. To know that a child becomes sick and dies before getting to experience life because there is not adequate health care or the family cannot afford adequate health care is alarming. I am definitely in support of what the campaign hopes to do by providing training for health care related issues to people within the community. It is the hope, of the campaign and now myself, that with more people within the communities trained on the health care related issues there will be less children losing life.

Finally I chose the campaign for parents to seek information from autismspeaks.org. The increased number of children being diagnosed with autism should encourage us all to become more aware of the signs because as with any disorder, the early we can detect and intervene to help the child on the autism spectrum the better off in the long run the child will become.

What I have learned a lot already through this course is how many significant advocacy efforts are already under way. I hope to become a part of the advocacy campaigns mentioned above, become a part of others not mentioned, create my own advocacy campaign, or a combination of all. Making a difference in the life of at least one child is why I got into this profession to begin with so if I could make a change that would impact lots of children that would be even better.