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Proyecto Visión 21

Children do have stories and lessons to share with us

I asked Dr. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier this question: What is revealed about a society by the way we treat our children?. Her answer was clear: “The humaneness of a society is measured by the quality of life of their children.”

Dra. Conde-Frazier is the Dean of Esperanza College at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and member of the Association for the Theological Education of Hispanics (AETH, in Spanish). Conde-Frazier is known for her writings and research about spirituality, theology, social issues, and multiculturalism.

Her new book is titled “Listen to the Children. Conversations with Immigrant Families” (Judson Press). That’s why I asked her my initial question.

According to Conde-Frazier, “The ability to provide in humane ways for the healthy development of the children says a great deal about the values of a culture.”

“To treat children involved in this issue as if they were non-persons and with regard for their developing person hood and humanity speaks of how our value for human rights has eroded,” she added.

In her new book (published in English and in Spanish in the same volume), Conde-Frazier presents her analysis of several interviews with parents separated from their children due to the process of migration, either because the children remained in their native country or the parents had to return to their native country, voluntarily or not.

Conde-Frazier’s book is not about immigration. It is about a group of forgotten, silenced, and seldom heard people during immigration debates or operations: the children.

In chapter 7, she talks about the psychological, emotional, and spiritual consequences children experience after a raid, because, due to their young age, those children still do not understand concepts like “borders” or “documents.”

But even if those children live in families with proper immigration documents, perhaps they will still experience problems related to their academic achievement and social interaction, due to the marginalized life they are in many cases forced to live.

Faith-based organizations and other community groups should practice what they preach and be at the forefront of helping families and children affected by immigration, but that’s not always the case (with many notable exceptions, of course.)

“Their (the children’s) innocence begs us to discuss immigration within the parameters of human rights. We have become so immersed in its complexity and controversy that we have forgotten the most vulnerable and the innocent who pay the highest price, the children. In so doing we not only dehumanize them but ourselves in the process,” she told me.

I agree. And if in the previous paragraph you change “immigration” for any other topic (health, employment, housing, education), the result will be the same: the innocents still pay the highest price.

According to Conde-Frazier, “The stories of the children bring out a reality about the situation and of ourselves that helps bring us back to a place of integrity and creativity and commitment to dealing with the real complexities involved.”

Let’s listen to the children now. Soon they will grow up and refuse to listen to us.

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