Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is known for writing about the disenfranchised over the world but lately he has focused on children in this country and what can be done to give them a great start on life. In this Sunday’s Times, he wrote a follow-up to his February 23 column about the need for early childhood interventions to broaden opportunity in America. He concludes the March 2nd column, written in response to the many compassionless comments he received to the earlier piece, with this statement: “To spread opportunity, let’s start by pointing fewer fingers and offering more helping hands.” We need more compassion and less name-calling rather than just technical solutions to solve our problems of poverty and inequality, according to Kristof.
The readers who commented on his February 23 column found fault with the young West Virginia mother who was featured---they judged her on the basis of her weight and tattoos, not for being a responsible and loving parent to her son. Kristof has been drawing attention to early childhood issues for some time, most notably in a column two years ago about the impact of early toxic stress on child development. It stands up with time and reminds us of important voices on this issue such as the American Academy of Pediatrics. Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/kristof-a-poverty-solution-that-starts-with-a-hug.html?_r=1&ref=nicholasdkristof
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/opinion/sunday/kristof-the-compassion-gap.html
Comments (0)