What is the most pressing issue for our children's future that we can start addressing today?

Answer 1

Instilling a sense of responsibility - that is they are responsible for the actions they take - or do not take. That they are in charge of their own futures and make decisions accordingly.
All we can do as parents is spend time with them, set examples by the way we live, and for us not to coddle them or indulge them in order to win their affection or approval.

Answer 2

The educational system needs to have a better understanding of children so that it stops underestimating their intelligence and overestimating their emotional maturity. As it is now there are too many under-challenged, under-motivated kids who exist in a school environment and culture of policies/beliefs aimed at people with emotional maturity children just don't have.

Also, there needs to legislation that defines the roles of schools as academic institutions and only academic institutions; and if someone believes there is a need to educate children in areas other than academics then separate programs should be set up to do that. As it is these days schools (and public schools are government schools) are taking liberties with non-academic matters they should not have the right to take.

Schools need to be run by people with a leadership mentality rather than a mentality of "they're going to do it anyway, so we'll go with that".

All parents and all professionals who deal with children need to somehow take the lead in defining childhood and what is done in childhood because of the last couple of decades or so the natural wish of children to act grown-up as been allowed to define what childhood is, and look what that has done to our children.

Too many adults are so hung up over the fact that they weren't "cool" as kids they decide that it is more important that their kids be "cool" than anything else. As a result, too many adults let their young children be swept up in whatever the latest trend is and are afraid to tell them, "You're too young for that."

Answer 3

well, we need to teach kids that

1. it's ok to be themselves. not everyone is going to have straight hair, big boobs, and be tall.

and

2. YOU SHOULDN"T HAVE SEX

those are the major issues we children face

Answer 4

I vote we stop sexualizing 12 year olds.

But that's just me.