The Philosophy
Child Honouring is a holistic philosophy involving a children-first approach to healing communities and restoring ecosystems. It views how we regard and treat our young as the key to building a humane and sustainable world; organizing society around the priority needs of its youngest members.
It starts with three givens:
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The primacy of early years -- early childhood is the gateway to humane being.
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We face planetary degradation that is unprecedented in scope and scale -- a state of emergency that most endangers the very young and that requires a remedy of equal scale.
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This crisis calls for a systemic response in detoxifying the environments that make up the ecology of the child.
By putting the universal needs of children first, strategies can be developed to meet our most pressing needs: building community, restoring planetary health, peacemaking, and creating sustainable economies that support the wellbeing of children and families.
By putting the universal needs of children first, strategies can be developed to meet our most pressing needs: building community, restoring planetary health, peacemaking, and creating sustainable economies that support the wellbeing of children and families.
Child Honouring is an invitation to imagine and create a diversity of child-friendly cultures. A child-honouring society would show love for its children in every facet of its design and organization.
As an integrated philosophy, Child Honouring allows us to question everything from the way we measure economic progress to our stewardship of the Earth; from our physical treatment of children to the corporate impact on their minds and bodies; from unthinking consumerism to factory schooling. By honouring the child we honour the Earth, as we work toward a sustainable world.
Take Action
There are a number of ways to incorporate the Child Honouring philosophy in the world around you:
Our Work
The Raffi Foundation advances Child Honouring as a universal ethic, with a focus on the following areas: child honouring education, child honouring
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UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Child Honouring is closely aligned with the UNCRC in acknowledging that children are rights bearing individuals.
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