This is barely a movie review of Won’t You Be My Neighbor.

It’s easy to sum up.

Tears flowed at the end. It was great. We need more people like that today.

For the reason I’m writing though is that same end statement. We need more people like that today. I know there was some controversy that he may have been some kind of seed for the millennials but I still believe the parents have their role in that. Might as well blame all the teachers for not raising those kids right.

Working with children myself but in a different way, I have told parents many times that most children I run across are probably 5 years smarter than you ever gave them credit for. Now that is a made up number but the idea is that we don’t give them enough credit.

I think it was earlier this year I had the pleasure of joining a friend and her husband with their three kids for an evening. Great kids. A pleasure to spend time with. They had strong pointed questions and I gave honest answers. For the most part I’ve always believed that if a kid has the wherewithal to actually ask the question, as an adult it is my responsibility to answer it. Not with made up kid words that we adults use to hide our own uncomfortableness or distress. To me that teaches a child that some things are less or more than other things. If you don’t use adult words if they ask about ‘private parts’ or sex and you act ashamed as you talk to them or try and pawn them off to another person or parent, do they learn that these things are ‘dirty’ and they shouldn’t talk to you about them?

Kids are not small adults, but they aren’t idiots.

Mr Rogers understood and accepted that they are individuals and should be treated with respect.

I hope that pendulum can swing back again.

-SFA