The lyrics to a famous pop song awakened us to the fact that “the children are our future.” Children are beautiful. Children are resilient able to adapt to their circumstances absorbing heaps of knowledge along the way. They are honest. They are integral, and when encouraged and motivated in positive ways, they become the leaders of our tomorrow. It is imperative to acknowledge the value of our children, and put them as top priority in our agendas. The Boys & Girls Club of America is an organization that seeks to facilitate the mental and physical growth of children. They provide programs associated with athletics, safe sex, gang prevention, and leadership building skills. The Boys & Girls Club encourages and motivates children to get out of the home, abusive or not, and into programs that develop their characters.

       My plan to create awareness of this issue stems from my marketing strategy. The Keiki Ohana Program, with the support of the Miss America Program will work in partnership with other established programs like the Boys and Girls Club, Police Activities League (P.A.L), and the Girl Scouts of America. It will also work with parents to strengthen the familial unit as a whole. Every aspect of a child’s development and environment is evaluated as being healthy and nurturing or not. We can then send our representatives into the community, reaching out to children and their parents through after school programs. I was raised in a single parent home and subjected to years of verbal abuse. If it were not for the love of my grandparents and positive role models in my life, I would have low self-esteem and look for acceptance in the wrong places. I needed the love of those people to realize that I am better than what my childhood defined me as and I have the potential to be a revolutionary woman.

       I have worked with the Girl Scouts of America and the P.A.L programs focusing on getting kids active. My experiences in serving with these programs allowed me to get personal with some of the children involved. They are extremely bright and eager to learn new things. All they require is the guidance of adults who truly care about them. I understand from first-hand experience that the guidance of caring adults can make a tremendous difference in a child’s life. Miss America is a program that cares about the future of these promising children.

       It is an alarming fact that countless children are living in abusive homes, and are the victims of unspeakable crimes of mental and physical abuse. If these children are not rescued from their unsafe environments, they may be forced to repeat a cycle of idleness and despondency. For example, if children are not taught how to become productive, social individuals, and instead are influenced with drugs, abuse, and violence, the end result would cause the child to be more susceptible to committing crimes and troubling their communities. It is no surprise that criminals that commit such heinous acts of violence were abused as children, or lacked strong parental influence. People need to understand that their families are affected by the poor decision making of troubled, at risk youth. It should become a duty of the Miss America Program to participate in planning efforts to strengthen these youth.

       The fact of the matter is that the issue stems form the home and resonates into the community. But, the problem does not lie solely on the children. Parents or guardians are the key contributors to their child’s development. I believe that we should implement more parenting programs in addition to programs aimed at children, creating the Keiki Ohana Program. It can serve as an extension of the Boys & Girls Club, P.A.L, and the Girl Scouts of America. Some of these parents are uneducated as to child-rearing, family health and nutritional matters. If we solidify the family unit, we can break a possibly detrimental cycle and turn it into a productive and positive one.

       If the Miss America Program chooses a proactive plan with their queen, they will be respected as an organization that not only gives back to the community, but also redefines the living conditions of it. If Miss America partners with groundbreaking organizations like the Boy & Girls Club of America, P.A.L, and Girls Scouts of America, we can create an unstoppable team that ensures that the children of today will take care of our tomorrows.