There's no doubt about the innocence of children and the need to take care of them.

All of us, and particularly growing children, need access to good food, nurturing communities, a clean environment, and the opportunity to learn about and explore their world.

In an environment of exploding calamities, remembering the importance of nurturing children roots us to a place where we have a modicum of agency.

While attributed to Emma Goldman, it is not her words. It is her quoting Sebastian Faure, who began a school named La Ruche in Paris in 1905. He took orphans and created an environment where they could thrive.

Here is the whole of the quote about educating children that Goldman includes in her essay, "Anarchy, Chapter 6: Francisco Ferrer and the Modern School:

“No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of the child. The effort of every true educator should be to unlock that treasure to stimulate the child’s impulses, and call forth the best and noblest tendencies. What greater reward can there be for one whose life-work is to watch over the growth of the human plant, than to see its nature unfold its petals, and to observe it develop into a true individuality. My comrades at La Ruche look for no greater reward, and it is due to them and their efforts, even more than to my own, that our human garden promises to bear beautiful fruit.”

“The health of the children who are now in my care is perfect. Pure air, nutritious food, physical exercise in the open, long walks, observation of hygienic rules, the short and interesting method of instruction, and, above all, our affectionate understanding and care of the children, have produced admirable physical and mental results.

“It would be unjust to claim that our pupils have accomplished wonders; yet, considering that they belong to the average, having had no previous opportunities, the results are very gratifying indeed.

"The most important thing they have acquired — a rare trait with ordinary school children — is the love of study, the desire to know, to be informed. They have learned a new method of work, one that quickens the memory and stimulates the imagination. We make a particular effort to awaken the child’s interest in his surroundings, to make him realize the importance of observation, investigation, and reflection, so that when the children reach maturity, they would not be deaf and blind to the things about them. Our children never accept anything in blind faith, without inquiry as to why and wherefore; nor do they feel satisfied until their questions are thoroughly answered. Thus their minds are free from doubts and fear resultant from incomplete or untruthful replies; it is the latter which warp the growth of the child, and create a lack of confidence in himself and those about him."

Ah, the power of education and the nurturing of children.

You can find Emma Goldman's essay here. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-anarchism-and-other-essays

Did you know?

One out of five children in this country is hungry.

For more about food insecurity and the resources available in Sullivan County, NY, visit A Single Bite. 

For more about the food pantries of Wayne County, PA, visit their program here. 

For food resources in Pike County, click here.