Opinion: New initiatives focus on youth, future

Mayor Tom Carlson outlined the initiative at Rotary Club of Springfield’s Jan. 18 meeting.

Child development experts agree that a child’s ability to learn, to cope and to succeed in life is closely tied to what happens to him or her between birth and age 5.

Early childhood experiences, good or bad, shape how a child learns, communicates, bonds with others and develops a sense of self-worth.

For children to grow up to be stable, responsible human beings, they need positive influences during the critical period, up to age 5.

The mayoral commission’s stated purpose is to act as a catalyst in mobilizing and educating the community about the health and well-being of local youth, and to provide an unbiased report on community progress on such issues.

The commission won’t be in the service delivery business, Carlson said. In the big-picture sense, it will bring together not-for-profits and government agencies to identify gaps related to early childhood and help solicit funds or volunteer support to fill those gaps.

“The idea is, we’ve got a lot of effective groups in the community, but by working together we can become even more effective than we are now,” Carlson said.

The commission is also in the process of choosing an individual program that it can get behind and enhance, such as Parents As Teachers, for example.

Carlson noted that investing in children brings an incredible return for the community. For every $1 invested in prevention at the early childhood level, the community saves $9. The old saying is true: A stitch in time really does save nine.

Another effort that will complement the work of the Mayor’s Commission for Children is the Character Education initiative sponsored by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

I am a member of the Character Education committee, which hopes to launch its regional effort in August.

The committee is now in the process of selecting a dozen key words that typify good character, choosing from a list of 79 attributes including such words as courtesy, determination, honesty, respect and trustworthiness.

Like the right influences in early childhood, the positive attributes that typify good character are a formula for success.

There will be more to report on both these efforts in the future. I’ll keep you posted.

Clarissa French is editor of Springfield Business Journal.