Simple things we can all do to make our world a better place for kids

1. Let every kid you see today know you think they're special.

2. Get on a mailing list of an organization dedicated to improving kids issues. Contribute, get involved, educate yourself about the issues.

3. Say hello to kids in your neighborhood. Let them know you're interested in how they're doing.

4. Go to the library and pick up a book on the issues facing kids today or how to be a better parent. Some classics include: Within Our Reach by Lisbeth Schorr, As the Bough Breaks by Sylvia Hewlett, and Wasting America's Future and The Measure of Our Success by Marian Wright Edelman.

5. Spend time with your kids or other kids in your life. When you're with them, practice really listening. Watch their faces light up!

6. Acknowledge someone who works with kids on a regular basis. Thank them for doing what is sometimes a "thankless" job.

7. Remember teens are children, too. Don't expect them to act like adults just because they are beginning to look like them. Be gentle with them, and you'll get a more positive response.

8. Arrange one-to-one time with a favorite child. It doesn't have to be your own! Research says kids need several adults who are crazy about them. Being with young people keeps you young.

9. Buy a self-help book for a teen in your life. Bringing Up Parents: The Teenager's Handbook and Fighting Invisible Tigers: A Stress Management Guide for Teens are available through Minneapolis publisher, Free Spirit Publishing. Call 338-2068 from the metro area or 1-800-735-7323.

10. Greet teens you pass on the sidewalk. Let them know you're proud, not afraid to be an "elder" in this society.

11. Coach a local sports team.

12. Be a mentor either informally to a child in your neighborhood or through a connecting agency such as One-to-One, Kinship, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, etc.

13. Work with your school to set up a car pool to make sure transportation is available to parents who otherwise couldn't make it to school activities.

14. Volunteer as a tutor at a school - share your own talents and see new ones develop in youngsters who'll get immeasurable self esteem for being recognized as "good at something."

© Copyright 2002, © University of Minnesota Children, Youth and Family Consortium.