Foreign Policy Blogs

Listening to Children

Listening to Children“A society in which adults are estranged from the world of children, and often from their own childhood, tends to hear children's speech only as a foreign language, or as a lie…. Children have been treated … as congenital fibbers, fakers and fantasisers.”
– Beatrix Campbell, British journalist.

Do we hear the voices of the worlds children? If we are not listening, then we are not hearing the voices of the furture, and who has more input into the future than they who will inherit it.  Children often look at the world with more clarity than adults, they see not only the reality, but the posiblity of change.  Children look forward, while as adults we tend too often to look back.  If we are to make true and lasting change in our world then we must begin by listening to our children.

 

Author

Cassandra Clifford

Cassandra Clifford is the Founder and Executive Director of Bridge to Freedom Foundation, which works to enhance and improve the services and opportunities available to survivors of modern slavery. She holds an M.A., International Relations from Dublin City University in Ireland, as well as a B.A., Marketing and A.S., Fashion Merchandise/Marketing from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Cassandra has previously worked in both the corporate and charity sector for various industries and causes, including; Child Trafficking, Learning Disabilities, Publishing, Marketing, Public Relations and Fashion. Currently Cassandra is conducting independent research on the use of rape as a weapon of war, as well as America’s Pimp Culture and its Impact on Modern Slavery. In addition to her many purists Cassandra is also working to develop a series of children’s books.

Cassandra currently resides in the Washington, D.C. metro area, where she also writes for the Examiner, as the DC Human Rights Examiner, and serves as an active leadership member of DC Stop Modern Slavery.


Areas of Focus:
Children's Rights; Human Rights; Conflict