Persuasive Speech on Childhood Development

About one and a half centuries ago, a young boy once recall – “From the time that I can remember having any thoughts about anything, I recall that I had an intense longing to learn to read. I determined, when quite a small child, that, if I accomplished nothing else in life, I would in some way get enough education to enable me to read. I had no schooling whatever while I was a slave…, and I had the feeling that to get into a schoolhouse and study would be about the same as getting into paradise When my stepfather had discovered that I had a financial value, and decided that he could not spare me from my work, this decision seemed to cloud my every ambition….My mother sympathized with me in my disappointment, and sought to comfort me in all the ways she could, and to help me find a way to learn.” (Washington) – Such is the recollection of the young Booker Washington. In the midst of misery, what a dream! In the midst of slavery, what an ambition overshadowing freedom! Reciprocating indeed, what an endearing mother support!

But this scenario was more than 150 years ago, when the family was at the helm of slavery! So much progress and development, both in technology and human affairs, have brought us in today’s Cyber age. Yet, even how ironic to admit, more than 2 billion dollars a year from tax of citizen’s hard-earned money has to be allotted for re-educating young Americans just to enable them to correctly compute, read and write the native language. (“Nclb Fact Sheet:No Child Left Behind Act”) What went wrong and who done it is something debatable. But one thing is real and imperative – the need to focus our attention on developing our young kids is NOW, not later, for childhood years fly swiftly. Every second of procrastination, every minute of complacency, before we realized it, young age have ultimately reached their unprecedented adult stage when further bending of their characters, such in a bamboo tree, would no longer be stern; worse, no longer malleable.

A child’s early years are critically important for they provide the foundation for the rest of their life, as an adolescent, and as an adult. If we nurture our children well, they will live well and will build good societies. Yes, they are our future and if we invest at their earliest stage formation, we invest in everyone’s human and economic development. (“Early Childhood Development “) Early child hood is the most rapid period of development in a human life. It is the moment when intellectual and emotional abilities are being formed; a formation which leads to creation of their own sense of identity – an important possession a child should have. And how is this so? Though individual children develop at their pace, all children progress through an identifiable sequence of physical, cognitive, and emotional growth and change. Nurturing young children and keeping them safe is a guaranteed protection against lifelong problems. There are two certain problems universal in all human societies: first, the need to provide for the nurturance of children; and secondly, the need to provide adult role models for children. By any standards, parent’s influence on their children is beyond measure. With their love and support, a child can achieve their goals, build self-esteem, and furthermore grow into a respectable, functioning member of society. Inversely, without it, a child develops negative self-image and low self-esteem; a common characteristics of a child rose in a loveless home. (“Child Development Basics,”)

Children look up to their parents as role models, not only as authority figures. In the absence of parents doing that role model, children tend to search for another elder to admire and to look up to. Therefore, it is a necessity for children to have an authoritative role model in their lives, because  much of what that child believes, loves and respects, is passed on to them by that person. That person could be anybody else who cares for his future. It could be his uncle, relative, godfather, or perhaps, it could be YOU!  But above all of them, if you are a parent – please open your eyes, much your heart. Act now; not tomorrow, for tomorrow may be too late.

REFRENCES:

“Child Development Basics,”.  1998.  Child Development Institute, LLC. March 6 2007. <http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/>.

“Early Childhood Development “.  2006.  The World Bank. Martch 6 2007. <http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTCY/EXTECD/0,,menuPK:344945~pagePK:149018~piPK:149093~theSitePK:344939,00.html>.

“Nclb Fact Sheet:No Child Left Behind Act”.  2002.  Office of the Press Secretary. March 6 2007. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020108.html>.

Washington, Booker  Up from Slavery: An Autobiography. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc., 2000.