Summertime: children are seen everywhere. Or are they? Society tends toward two extremes in its treatment of young people. One extreme views children as big-eyed cartoon characters who say precious and endearing things. (Many children’s faith education publications sport just such illustrations.) The other extreme views children as “not quite” people. (For instance, the term “minor” indicates someone who is “less than.”)

The first view relates to children more as pets than as people, viewing them simply as “cute,” while denying them the respect afforded to equals. The second view renders children invisible: because they are small of stature, or because they cannot vote or earn a wage, society simply does not see them.

This summer, we can make a spiritual practice of valuing children as persons. Below are some ideas; you may have others. We’d love to hear them!

• Get on a child’s eye level when interacting with him/her;
• Ask questions in a child’s language: gauge word choice and sentence structure to the child’s needs;
• Help other adults “see” children (For instance, children awaiting service in retail establishments often get overlooked. We can point out their presence to the wait staff.);
• Say “excuse me” to a child every time you would do the same for an adult;
• In teaching situations, replace “cute” with “quality”;
• Learn a child’s name; and
• Ask a child to teach you how to do something at which she/he is accomplished.

Do you have other suggestions?