Ronda Sherwood:  

Twenty years ago we were told that we were the future. ¿Go forth and lead¿, that was the general idea. Maybe we still are the future. Certainly we¿re the present, but being leaders of today isn¿t nearly as important as being the leaders and listeners of our children. The future begins in the past¿ or perhaps it would be better to say that the future begins in the present, with the children of today. Our children. Whether we are mothers or fathers, stepparents, aunts, uncles or friends of parents with children, we can make a difference with each and every child or teen that is in our lives. We need to teach our children to love our diversity. It is what makes us strong. Thin, fat, gay, straight, short, tall, atheist, Christian, Muslim, black, white, liberal or conservative, etc. We can have our differences. We WILL have our differences, but if we don¿t learn to listen to each other and hear each other, then where is our future going? We do not have to agree. We have to respect. We have to teach our children respect and appreciation of who and how we are¿ and maybe, just maybe, if we learn to listen to our children and give them a voice NOW, then maybe we can learn something too. It¿s their world. They see it clearer than we can. Positiv...Expand for more