Strong Families Needed in View of Economic Crisis

AP photo: http://blog.pennlive.com/thrive/2007/05/the_dalai_lama_coming_to_the_l.html

The May 18, 2009 edition of Business Week magazine had a short article on the Dalai Lama’s reflection on the current economic crisis. His take? There are three underlying causes of the economic collapse: greed, lack of transparency and speculation. He goes onto say that our society’s obsession with “money, money, money, money” is not right. While recognizing that, of course, money is needed to live, “it is not the only measure of value” and that our focus should be on other metrics which include the “happy family, compassionate family, the family full of affection and the compassionate community.” This brief interview gave me much to reflect on and connects viscerally to our work in HIPPY. How does one go about supporting the development of such a family? HIPPY does through concrete tactics that provide parents with tools to work daily with their children in a loving, nurturing and compassionate way. Our home visitors act as conduits, bringing positive parenting techniques into the home in a supportive manner. Our HIPPY children are given opportunities to have school readiness experiences in the nurturing support of their family home. And once they transition their children into full time school, HIPPY parents become a part of a compassionate community of parents who support their children’s education, empathize with and support their children’s teachers, and exercise their leadership either as home visitors themselves, or among other parents in the community. I think the Dalai Lama would approve.