Book review: The Kid's Guide to Social Action

Reviewed by REBECCA E. KOTKIN

Review of The Kid's Guide to Social Action: How to Solve the Social Problems You Choose-And Turn Creative Thinking into Positive Action (click to order) by Barbara A. Lewis (Free Spirit Publishing; 209pp., $16.95)

 

As parents, we look at our children and worry about the world we are leaving them. After all, children are our future, and it is our responsibility to solve society's problems for them, right? Wrong.

Children, themselves, can be highly effective agents for social change if they just utilize their creativity and powers of persuasion in a concentrated and directed way. As Barbara A. Lewis outlines in her new book, The Kid's Guide to Social Action, many children have done just that and all children have the ability to do so with the proper guidance and tools.

Ms. Lewis profiles a number of children who, either individually or in groups, have taken the initiative and accomplished dynamic things. From classes who lobbied to clean up hazardous wastes to children who advocate for young victims of child abuse, the book is peppered with inspirational stories of ordinary children who identified problems in their community or elsewhere and refused to ignore them. These children turned their energy into action, developed a plan of attack and produced extraordinary results.

The book is much more than a testimonial to some incredible kids. It is really a "how to" manual to assist children in choosing their own cause to champion and in seeing their project through to completion. It contains directions for identifying the problem, for planning a strategy for research, media coverage and fund-raising, and for lobbying the appropriate officials to effect the necessary changes. Ms. Lewis sets forth the process in a clear, step-by-step procedure. She includes tips for all methods of working for social change, including telephoning public officials, writing petitions, and dealing with the media. As she describes each technique, she highlights children who used it effectively in their struggle to make a difference in the world.

Ms. Lewis includes numerous forms and suggestions to assist children in organizing their thoughts and proceeding with their project. There is advice on proper telephone and lobbying etiquette as well as forms for surveys, petitions, proclamations and news releases. She also includes a long list of resources, such as government offices, public interest organizations and youth clubs providing opportunities for social action. With a mini civics lesson describing the branches of government and the impact citizens can have on them, the book could be a starting point for a host of different opportunities to solve problems.

Throughout Kids for Social Action, Ms. Lewis scatters inspirational quotations and aphorisms to drive home her thesis: even regular kids have the power to make a difference and change that which is wrong in the world, and even regular kids should do so. Although not directly stated in the book, the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) charges Jews to do exactly that, and it is never too early to start. For children who believe they are too young to have an impact or have too small a voice to be heard, Ms. Lewis's book not only proves that many kids have made a difference, it gives all children the means to do so.