O-mama - Opinionated Moms

Our country and the world have been called to action out of a moral sense of responsibility in response to the Haitian earthquake.  50% of the Haitian population is under the age of 18. They are children.  One of the least developed nations in the western hemisphere, with 80% of the country living in abject poverty, and one fraught with years of political discord and violence and already lacking in basic infrastructure; Haiti certainly was in no position to weather a natural disaster of this magnitude on its own.   

The death toll is expected to be in the hundreds of thousands and an estimated 1.5 million are homeless.  Port-au-Prince and outlying areas are devastated and international aid has been arriving, but has been slow to be distributed due to lack of infrastructure on the ground.  Corpses lay rotting in the sun, and looters with machetes have taken to the streets.  Haitians living illegally in the US were granted 18 month amnesty to avoid deportation. The United States immediately pledged aid and assistance to Haiti through the Red Cross and other means to ease their suffering.  Former President’s Clinton and Bush have established www.clintonbushhaitifund.com to receive donations to aid Haiti.   All off this is what we, the most generous nation in the world, do best.  The United States proudly springs to action, ready to take on the responsibility necessary to help a struggling neighbor in dire need and set the example for its citizens, and the world. 

Here’s how to begin a conversation with your children about being a good friend. 1) Remind them that "a friend in need is a friend indeed." Part of our responsibility to our friends is to be there when they need us.  It shows them that they can depend on us in good times and bad.  And, in turn, they will be there for us when we need them too.  (2) Explain that "the best way to have a friend is to be one."  The way we treat our friends should be the way we want to be treated. If kids are kind, honest and helpful to others, they will have lots of friends. 

Check out www.goodcharacter.com for some resources on teaching kids about friendship.