Transferred from retired TamLykens.com by the same author. First published June 20, 2023.
Why does the world need Parable Park?
After delighting in the Summer Reading Program launch, I went to the city park because I, too, claimed some books and summer schedule sheets and I wanted to sit in the sun and continue the inspiration.
Children were splashing in the ground fountains, swinging, climbing thick nets, crawling through large tubes, and spiraling down plastic slides. A boy about twelve-years-old rode by me on his bicycle and said hello. I said hello in return with a smile. I heard squeals, laughter, and chatter from merry children. Middle-school-age boys ran across the wide expanse of grass while their mothers walked the circle of the surrounding sidewalk.
The sky was blue; the sun was warm, and white cumulus clouds watched the children from above. I imagined the large white clouds pronouncing,
“All is as it should be.”
But a swing holding a child can tell the small heart is broken by the tightness of her grip on the swing’s chains.
“Is it, though?” asked the swing to the cloud.
So, what makes Parable Park so special?
Why does the Resistance care whether animated animals make it to the publishing floor?
Good question, thanks for asking.
In her data-rich book, Generation Me, Dr. Jean M. Twenge shocked me with this dreadful update from America:
“The suicide rate for children under age 14 has doubled just since 1980.”
Twenge, 108, Generation Me
My heart compresses with grief over this.
“This world is crazy!” is currently a common statement heard on the street. Sure, anyone with access to media can see that. But what can be done for the children? What is a solution? What can we do for the kids?
Kids see miserable adults around them. So, many kids don’t want to grow up to navigate this crazy world as an adult. With increasing bullying via social media, it’s hard enough just being a kid.
Parable Park‘s mission is to educate and encourage kids with the knowledge of what’s inside them. At their creation, they were physically hard-wired with their own superpowers, their own purpose, their own reason to be excited about being here. It’s science. It’s amazing.