Advocating for Children

This week I explored the information under the ‘Take Action’ tab on the Save the Children website. This area provides information about a variety of ways in which the general public can become involved in child advocacy efforts. Save the Children states that one of the best ways to the support the needs of children around the world is to advocate on their behalf to the United States Congress. In order to make this process easier and encourage more participation, the website currently contains draft letters that draws attention to specific issues and advocates for solutions. A sender would only need to add their personal information to the letter and with a click of a button the letter will be sent to the local representative. The issues that Save the Children is currently advocating for include protecting global health funding and increased support for maternal, newborn and child-health programs, protecting programs that help to train and support health workers around the world and ensuring that all children in the United States have access to high-quality early childhood education programs. 

The web area that advocated for access to high quality preschool for all caught my attention. The program ‘Preschool for All’ would ensure that all four year olds in the United States have the opportunity to learn the skills they need before entering Kindergarten. The website states that while all children deserve an equal chance to live up to their full potential, two out of every five children in the United States is unable gain access to a quality program most often due to the high expense.  The draft letter on the website highlights several important points including research behind the need to support children during the early learning years, barriers preventing families from being able to access quality care for their children and why as a nation it is important for the United States to invest in programs for children. In addition to being an advocacy tool for public use, I believe that the research based contents of this letter is extremely useful in educating the public why they need to advocate on behalf of this issue as well as educate policymakers on why it is so important and urgent for them to ‘take action’. 

                 In addition to writing letters to congress the website detailed another opportunity for child advocacy. Each year Save the Children participates in an ‘Advocacy Summit’ in Washington D.C. that offers opportunities for participants to learn more about challenges affecting children throughout the world, learn how the right action at the right time can transform a child's chances to survive grave threats and discuss how helping children reach their full potential can, in turn, transform whole communities, economies and global realities. In addition participants have the opportunity to meet government, business and cultural leaders who are standing up for children and gather on Capitol Hill to advocate for children with lawmakers and staff, call for concrete actions, and promise to join Save the Children in holding these leaders accountable. For those that cannot travel to Washington, Save the Children offers options for online participation and as well online advocacy tools through social media. According to website, whether in-person or online, all participants take away an understanding of the most pressing needs children face and the great potential we all have to address them.

One of the greatest insights I gathered from my explorations of the website this week is the fact that although there are many issues affecting children today they can neither speak for themselves nor can they can they vote to bring about change. As adults it is our responsibility to speak up about these issues and make lawmakers aware of the need to consider these issues in their decision-making processes. In addition I realized that to be an advocate we don’t necessarily have to march on Washington, it can be as simple as writing a letter to your congressman or senator or calling them. One of the newsletters I received also stressed the importance of doing this. The tools provided by Save the Children makes 'taking action' even easier. By advocating on behalf of children’s issues in whatever capacity we are able to, we will be one step closer to having these issues addressed.