Find out What Adults Can Really Learn from Kids [VIDEO]

Press play on the video, close your eyes and listen to the speaker. You are probably imagining an erudite researcher or high-powered businesswoman, but lo and behold, it is Adora Svitak a 12-year-old author and literacy advocate. The subject of the child prodigy’s TED talk is what adults can learn from kids, a fitting way to mark the UN’s Universal Children’s Day, which takes place today, November 20. The annual observance was decreed in 1954, as a day on which all countries take stock of their youngest citizens, ensuring that their voices are heard and that they receive proper care and treatment.
Echoing the values of Universal Children’s Day,  Adora Svitak believes that children need to be heard, as they possess a positive and out-of-the-box way of thinking, coming up with bold and creative ideas. This, in her opinion is exactly what the world needs - and she implores adults not to brush kids aside, rather to give them a platform to turn their ideas into reality.
Svitak was only four years-old when she started to write, and after receiving laptop at age six, the youngster had already penned 300 short stories. She explains that she approached her mother with the desire to publish her work, and to her parents’ credit, they set out to find her a publisher. Many children’s publishers dismissed her writing, even going as far as to say that they do not work with kids. This underlies one of Svitak’s main points in her talk, which is the tendency for adults to underestimate the capabilities of kids. By setting the expectation bar low, they hamper children’s potential to thrive.
Today’s kids will be tomorrow’s adults, making the present an ideal opportunity to take their ideas seriously - and for grownups to open up their minds to learning a thing or two from youngsters.

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