also begging lots of people to actually interact with children of all ages and talk to them like real people and pay attention to what they’re saying and let them gush and vent to you and treat them like the human beings they are. and observe how many of their issues come from being locked in hellish systems in which their autonomy is nul, they’re dropped into the crab bucket that is school, and they often have no recourse or choice in trying to reclaim their agency or escape abusive circumstances bc even the best parents will encounter no resistance from their community were they to decide to cut their kids’ access to food, security, medical assistance or privacy. many will even defend invade their kids’ privacy. it’s wild how so many people recognize they were traumatized by their childhoods and will then condescendingly eclare that children are incapable of rational thoughts or decisions and that depriving them of freedom of movement or contact with the outside world is an ideal solution to any conflict between them and their kids. and how many won’t even like. take five minutes to listen to an eight year who’s excited about pyramids and is ecstatic at the fact that SOMEONE listens to them and asks questions and doesn’t dismiss their interest. or affirm a 14 year old when they talk about their distress and real suffering rather than going “you’ll get it when you’re older”. or consider that a 12 year old might actually have something valuable to say about life or have knowledge/understanding an adult does not.