Let’s take a moment to consider what it is like to be a child in today’s world. And to consider what it is like to be a teacher to a child in today’s world. When I was a teenager in the 1960s, only 4 percent of our population had chronic diseases. Today, around 50 percent of our children, according to Dr. Zach Bush (triple board certified physician) and Dr. Christine Northrup (a bestselling author), have chronic diseases and other challenging developmental and health issues: asthma (the most common), allergies, diabetes, cancer, ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, obesity and more.

And let us add to this consideration our negative and psychologically sick society, the breakdown of strong communities and family ties, the dominance of media over childhood development.

With such challenges, how our children can manage to focus on anything at all in a classroom is beyond me.

It is truly indefensible to think about giving less support to those adults who nevertheless are willing to be there for them, and to give their best.

— Rondi Lightmark