Introduction
Since 1925 when it was first
proclaimed in Geneva (Switzerland) the day of June 1st has been
celebrated as the ‘International Children’s Day’. It is also the day when
adults – like me – hope, from the bottom of the heart, to read some positive
statistics on the improvement of children’s life quality. But then come recent
statistics released by the ‘Eurostat’ stating that almost a quarter (23,4
percent) of the European Union’s children (with Slovenia scoring the best and
Romania scoring the worse) are ‘children at risk of poverty and social
exclusion’.[1]
I try to be optimistic – at least on Children’s Day – and hope that maybe the
other three quarters are living in wealth and social inclusion.
On
the International Children’s Day, children gathers, in order to make drawings
on the paper or on the streets, they participate in different contests, share
balloons, etc. Actually adults, who take decisions in the states the children
are living, can do more than organizing contests and streets drawings. They can
work to find ways so that more money to be monthly allocated to children, in
order to cover their parents’ expenses with raising a child. Children can be
allocated more money to buy books, to buy a cinema/theatre ticket, visit a
museum or make a trip, buy candies or balloons, but somehow adults can’t and
children aren’t. States can create mechanisms that children’s money not to be
spent on alcohol by their parents where such is the case, but somehow states
don’t and children are spent the money. Therefore, the International Children’s
Day is the day to remember that children have rights and adults have
obligations towards them.
‘Be
Best’ is a campaign …
In the United States the
International Children’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of June – it
looks like the whole month of June there are global children’s celebrations. One
of the national and international programs that center itself on children and
youth is the ‘Be Best’ initiative, but let us not forget the ‘Reach
Centre’ recently inaugurated by the First Lady at the Kennedy Center – a campus
for Arts and Humanities where youth can gather to experience music, theatre and
all other performing arts.[2]
On May 7th,
the ‘Be Best’ campaign celebrated 2 years old. It is a child, too, but who did
so much work as for an adult: it met medical doctors, teachers, ambassadors, government
leaders, elected officials, representatives of the tech community, nearly 4,000
students, visited over 20 classrooms, invited thousands of children and
students to the White House on different occasions (ex. Family Theatre night
screening a movie on the great contribution of the Afro-American women to the
NASA project),[3]
read Christmas and Easter stories[4],
and it toured nationally and internationally to raise awareness on the
challenges children and youth face. Amid COVID-19 pandemic it sent books,
games, bags, pencils and stickers to the medical staff and young patients in
hospitals.[5]
… that has three pillars…
From the very beginning this
campaign focused on three pillars: the well being of the children (meaning a
healthy living, encouragement, kindness and compassion) – regarding the
children as human beings, who have the right to be respected and treated equally;
the second pillar is the online safety – in this context meetings were hold
with the tech community for programs and applications for online safety and
innovations that can improve the life quality of children with disabilities,
too. Furthermore, a booklet of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission with lots of useful
advice for adults concerning the online safety of their children is promoted (and
can be downloaded free of charge) within the ‘Be Best’ campaign.[6]
And the third pillar
focuses on the opioids pandemic that caused thousands of overdose dead – it
supports families and children affected by opioids to recover and teaches about
healthy pregnancies. In October 2019 statistics showed first signs of healthy
recovery from the opioid pandemic with a national drop of 5.1 percent in
overdose deaths with a
serious drop in most-hitted states: Ohio (24 percent), Pennsylvania (23
percent), Iowa (19 percent), Kentucky (17 percent), etc.[7]
…and
that goes from national to international.
This campaign raises awareness
and gives a voice to the concerns and struggles of children in the United
States and in the world. The ‘Be Best’ message was taken so far to Egypt,
Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, United Kingdom.[8]
‘Be
Best’ is run by the First Lady, Melania Trump,…
It is said that as long as each
of us has parents, we are still children, even if children become adults and
have children of their own, as it is also the case of Melania Trump, who said
that she runs this campaign as a First Lady and as a mother.
In
February 2020, the First Lady was invited by the Palm Beach Atlantic University
to be awarded the 2020 ‘Woman of Distinction’ Award.[9]
And Melania invited her parents at this ceremony to thank them for the support
over the years, their efforts and struggles. Therefore, the First Lady would
like that children find in the ‘Be Best’ campaign the support they need to
‘become their very best selves.’
…is
a 2 years old campaign that is still learning…
On the occasion of her trip to
India, the First Lady participated in a ‘happiness curriculum’ class, which is
something rare around the globe. It is a mindfulness program that most probably
explains why many people from poor countries usually answer that they are happy
in statistics that measure the level of happiness.[10]
On the occasion of the second
anniversary of the ‘Be Best’ national and international campaign, Melania Trump
said:
‘I’m reminded that now, more than
ever, we must continue to work together and champion the issues that face our
children in order to strengthen, protect and provide them with a safe and more
secure future.’[11]
…and
gathers many fans around the world.
Like me! I appreciate the
sincerity and the commitment of this first non-native American First Lady, born
in Slovenia, who has looked into her heart and chose to focus on children and
youth – as the future of her adoptive country that she wants great again; and
for which she volunteers.
Conclusions
To sum up, the International
Children’s Day is celebrated by most of the countries on June 1st,
as well as in other days during the month of June or during the year –
depending on the traditions in each country. It is an occasion to remember that
children have rights, too and that adults have responsibilities and obligations
towards them. Those adults empowered to take decisions can and should take more
measures to improve the quality of life of both children and adults.
‘Be
Best’ is a national and international campaign run by the First Lady Melania
Trump. It raises awareness on the challenges children and teens face and it promotes
their wellbeing, their online safety and a healthy life out of the use of
drugs. This campaign for children and youth reached 2 years old and I wish it
and all children:
A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and
MANY HEALTHY AND HAPPY YEARS AHEAD!
[1]
‘Children at Risk of Poverty and Social Exclusion’. Eurostat. March 4th, 2020. Web. May 28th,
2020. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Children_at_risk_of_poverty_or_social_exclusion
[2] ‘First Lady Melania Trump Attends a Dedication
Ceremony at the Kennedy Center. You Tube.
September 11th, 2019. Web. May 28th, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJYhCQNuM3w
[3] ‘First Lady Melania Trump Hosts Students at the
White House Movie Theater’. You Tube.
February 13th, 2020. Web. May 28th, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gejp20VWR3A
[4] ‘White House Easter Egg Roll: Reading Book
with First Lady Melania Trump’. You Tube.
April 2nd, 2018. Web. May 28th, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxRbG0s2420
[5]
Superville, Darlene. ‘First Lady Sends
Gifts to Hospitals Dealing with Coronavirus.’ AP News. April 24th, 2020. Web. May 28th,
2020. https://apnews.com/48d951909e6104922f25e301e7afa0cc
[6] ‘Talking with Kids about Being Online’. Be Best. May 2018. Website. May 28th, 2020. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Talking-with-kids-about-being-online-_2018.pdf
[7] Stein, Shira. “Overdose Deaths Drop
Sharply in States Hard Hit by Opioid Crisis”. Bloomberg Law. 30 October
2019. Web. 2 December 2019. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/overdose-deaths-drop-sharply-in-states-hard-hit-by-opioid-crisis
[8] ‘Be Best International’. Be Best
– First Lady Melania Trump’s Initiative. Website. May 28th,
2020. https://www.whitehouse.gov/bebest/
[9] Lewis, Victoria. ‘First Lady Melania Trump
Receives Award from Palm Beach Atlantic University.’ WPTV. February 19th, 2020. Web. May 28th,
2020. https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/west-palm-beach/first-lady-melania-trump-receiving-award-from-palm-beach-atlantic-university
[10] Scandinavians
are usually first runners in statistics measuring happiness (expected given
many life quality factors). Surprising results are those related to poor
countries, where respondents say that they are happy. My assumption started
from the fact that people are generally either spiritual or materialistic and
those who are spiritual do not need lots of material things to feel happy, while
those more materialistic search into the material world for that special
feeling of happiness – and some find it, while others need to accumulate more.
Now, I learned to consider this ‘happiness curriculum’ as an alternative possible
factor that may explain polls’ results on happiness. Anyway, my belief is that
‘happiness’ and ‘comfortability’ are two concepts that relate to ‘spirituality’
and to ‘materialism’. Therefore, I think that where life quality can be
improved, people are not only feeling happy, but also more comfortable (and
they can live longer, healthier, etc.).
[11] Trump, Melania. ‘Be Best’. Twitter. May 7th, 2020.
Tweet. May 28th, 2020. https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1258411264419729408
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