"I do most of my work with kids. They are the very foundation of our future. We are so incredibly disrespectful to them in America in every way because they can't vote"
About this Quote
Henry Winkler is best known to many as the cool, unflappable Fonzie, but his enduring legacy may be his decades of work with children. Diagnosed with dyslexia only in adulthood, he turned his early struggles into a career of advocacy, coauthoring the Hank Zipzer books to give kids, especially those who learn differently, a voice and a hero. That personal history animates his blunt claim: in a democracy, respect often follows power, and children have none because they cannot vote.
Calling kids the foundation of our future is not a sentimental flourish; it is a demand for long-term thinking in a culture fixated on short-term wins. When budgets tighten, programs for schools, arts, mental health, and nutrition are among the first cut, even though their returns compound across a lifetime. Policies about climate, gun safety, and public health will affect young people longest, yet their interests are filtered through adults with different incentives. The disrespect he names is not only legislative. It shows up when we talk at children rather than with them, when standardized tests become the definition of worth, when classrooms become battlegrounds for adult culture wars, and when student concerns about safety or anxiety are dismissed as overreaction.
Ironically, kids shape civic life even without the vote. Student walkouts, climate strikes, and peer-to-peer literacy campaigns show agency that institutions too often ignore. Winkler points toward a moral and practical correction: adults must act as responsible proxies, foregrounding child well-being in public choices, and also build channels for youth voice. That can mean student seats on school boards, youth advisory councils for city policy, or even experimenting with a lower voting age in local elections. On the everyday level, it means listening, inviting collaboration, and designing classrooms and media that reflect childrens realities. Treating children with the respect due future citizens is not charity; it is the groundwork of a healthier democracy.
Calling kids the foundation of our future is not a sentimental flourish; it is a demand for long-term thinking in a culture fixated on short-term wins. When budgets tighten, programs for schools, arts, mental health, and nutrition are among the first cut, even though their returns compound across a lifetime. Policies about climate, gun safety, and public health will affect young people longest, yet their interests are filtered through adults with different incentives. The disrespect he names is not only legislative. It shows up when we talk at children rather than with them, when standardized tests become the definition of worth, when classrooms become battlegrounds for adult culture wars, and when student concerns about safety or anxiety are dismissed as overreaction.
Ironically, kids shape civic life even without the vote. Student walkouts, climate strikes, and peer-to-peer literacy campaigns show agency that institutions too often ignore. Winkler points toward a moral and practical correction: adults must act as responsible proxies, foregrounding child well-being in public choices, and also build channels for youth voice. That can mean student seats on school boards, youth advisory councils for city policy, or even experimenting with a lower voting age in local elections. On the everyday level, it means listening, inviting collaboration, and designing classrooms and media that reflect childrens realities. Treating children with the respect due future citizens is not charity; it is the groundwork of a healthier democracy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Parenting |
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