Book review: ‘The World Needs Your Kid, How to raise children who care and contribute’

How to be a youngster who cares about the world and actively gets involved.
Book review: ‘The World Needs Your Kid, How to raise children who care and contribute’
(Courtesy of Craig and Marc Kielburger)
5/11/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/The+World+Needs+cover.jpg" alt="(Courtesy of Craig and Marc Kielburger)" title="(Courtesy of Craig and Marc Kielburger)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1820028"/></a>
(Courtesy of Craig and Marc Kielburger)
OTTAWA—Every family library should have a copy of this book.

Craig Kielburger and his brother Marc, along with Ottawa Citizen writer Shelley Page, have put together their best wisdom and practical advice on how to “nurture global citizens” by engaging and supporting children to effect positive changes in the community or across the globe.

With children being used to hawk everything from cars to cereal in TV ads, it is refreshing to read about real children making real contributions that help other children around the world—and doing it from their hearts.

At the tender age of 11 Craig Kielburger learned that he could influence others and make a difference when he prevented the closure of a local library that he and his friends frequently used. By the time he was 12, Craig became a global activist when he worked with students from his grade seven class to raise money to help end child slavery after reading an article in a newspaper about the death of a former child slave in India.

Eventually, he was helping children around the world when he and Marc founded Free the Children, a charity that “empowers children in North America to take action to improve the lives of fellow children overseas,” as stated on their website www.freethechildren.com.

The brothers teamed with Ottawa writer Shelley Page to write “The World Needs Your Kid.” While attending a roundtable discussion with the Dalai Lama several years ago, Craig and Marc learned that the greatest problem facing the world was that parents are raising “a generation of passive bystanders.” They both felt that this could be changed.

From that meeting the seeds were planted, and as usual, Craig and Marc set out to find a way to help children and families learn how to become engaged in changing the world for the better. The brothers looked for children who had taken the initiative to help others, and profiled them in the book and thereby promoted the idea that our world needs children who care about others and the planet, and who are selflessly working towards a common good.

The book is predicated on following the “three Cs” of compassion, courage, and community. It lays out 16 lessons, each chronicling the children and families throughout North America, some as young as six, who have taken it upon themselves to help other children—with the help of their parents or other adults of course.

For example, a senior highschooler showed courage when he rallied other students to prevent the bullying of a grade nine student who had worn a pink polo shirt to school. At the end of the day, 700 of the 800 students in the Nova Scotia school stood up for the youngster by wearing pink Ts the next day. The bullies were thus stopped in their tracks.

The books states that kids can gain more self-worth from what they do than from what they earn. The brothers also state that kids can be self-reliant and help others in unique ways—parents just help them do it.

The message is simple: make giving a normal part of life the way Craig and Marc’s mother did, praise children for hard work, help children find a cause.

One case in point is the young man attending a leadership camp against his will. He made fun of one “do-gooder” at the camp. When the audience responded to his derisive speech with laughter, he was praised for his ability to connect with people using humour, even though that wasn’t his original intention. Once his talent was recognized he channeled it into a cause and eventually became a prime speaker at events and rallies-in other words a do-gooder.

This book also contains numerous contributions from artist, activists, and philanthropists who talk about their involvement in doing good for others; but it is the children’s stories that are the most compelling and that children readers will identify with.

In this consumptive society that seems to promote greed and selfishness over compassion and caring, it is heartwarming to read about people of all ages who are making a positive contribution to this planet. Lets all take a hard look at how we want our children to behave towards others as they go through life and shape the planet for years to come.

The authors tell children and their parents that it’s cool to care about others.


“The World Needs Your Kid” is available from Amazon.ca now and will be available from Amazon.com in September 2010 (ISBN 978-1-55365-505-3). Half the proceeds from the book go to Free the Children, and the other half is reinvested to sustain future projects.