Image courtesy of 1loud.com
No, not that. I don’t care what town you come from.
I want to know your heart.
Do you hold your heart in a place of trust? Or in a place of fear?
Everything is an opportunity, and it’s a real shame when fear rules. We miss some amazing opportunities.
I learned this first hand when starting Where’s Your Heart? Foundation. It turns out, non-profits are governed at the state level. States regulate from one of two perspectives. Some states trust that people want to do good, and put structure in place to make it easy to follow rules and partner with those who try to give a little back. Other states, New York included, come from a different place.
Born out of fear, they assume people who start foundations are trying to “get something” from the system. They regulate heavily, with good intent — to protect consumers, but make it extremely difficult for people really trying to do good to do so. They miss a great opportunity. And, if headlines in NY are any indication, they don’t seem to be doing such a good job even with the over-stifling-regulations.
That’s not what got me writing though.
In many homes both parents work. Or, both parents aren’t always around. In some cases, parents need help they don’t even know how to ask for. Social media presents an opportunity for kids to interact with their teachers on their own terms, which means the teachers can build trust and keep an eye on things. They can partner with parents to protect their kids. That is, unless you come from a place of fear.
It turns out, NY doesn’t trust their teachers any more than they trust their philanthropists. And, they can’t be bothered to educate them, or figure out some sort of buddy system to keep things above board. Instead, NYC is just going to ban teachers from connecting with their students.
I guess is better this way. Then they can honestly deny seeing the online bullying that seems to affect so many young lives.
I feel bad for the good teachers who are punished because of the few rotten apples.