Making the World A Better Place

The AW Chain is in it's fourth round now and Laurie at Peregrinas , who always has excellent, informative posts, has tagged me with an outstanding topic:

"What do you do to make the world a better place?"

If you've ever read my blog, surely you know my answer: I raise my kids the best way I can.

I figure my imprint on them is the most significant, ongoing impact I can make in the world, and I hope, with all my parenting imperfections, that the good outweighs the bad once the tallies are made.

In a broader sense, of course, I hope that my focus on youth empowerment and Developmental Assets makes a difference as well. Seeing young people as contributing members of society isn't necessarily a mainstream way of thinking. My hope is that by describing empowered, responsible kids, I will help others to recognize and celebrate those qualities in other youth.

For instance, Australian writer (and AW colleague), Gillian Pollack told me about an outstanding example of youth empowerment she's witnessed. Teams of youth in Louisiana have helped to improve literacy in their communities. It's a powerful example of what young people can accomplish when they're recognized as useful. I'm hoping that Pass the Torch Tuesday will continue to generate stories like this one, as well as those about parents witnessing great things in their children.

Peggy at The Road Less Traveled is next in the chain. Please visit her, and all the AW Chain participants. We'd all love to read your comments on this series of posts. CLICK HERE for the complete list of participants. I'll update it with permalinks once the chain is completed.

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