April 10, 2022

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I’ve been thinking about the power of speech, the power of words and the power of voice lately. When babies are born, a good measure of how healthy they are is the volume of their cry. If a baby comes out into the world crying and screaming, then things are working. The lungs are working. The heart is working, and usually the APGAR scores (the measure at birth of how healthy they are) are high.

Our daughter the last few weeks has composed several spoken word poems that simply amazed me. I’m not one to give credit where credit is not due. I think I’m relatively objective when evaluated my own children’s writing. She was good both the composition of the poem and the deliver. She was very very good.

What amazed me as her mother, is that this is the same being that had no cry at birth. She was born early and had to be intubated and whisked away to the NICU in an incubtaor. Now to hear that same child with a voice strong and confident, delivering her creative pieces is powerful.

It’s made me think also of the Youth Arts Exhibition that we helped organize #WeBorrowTheEarthFromOurChildren . As the cascading effects of that collaboration take effect, I’m reminded that the most powerful thing we did was elevated the collective voices / words/ expressions of the children that we know.

That the children are speaking. That the birds are calling. That the ocean waves are crashing – and you can hear them, that is hopeful. I hope everyone listens to their children, whether it be through their art or their spoken words.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is listening to the children.