What is Radical Respect?
Power exists in every relationship. In radically respectful relationships, the person with the most power recognizes their power and is cautious about how it affects the other. Adults committed to radically respectful relationships with very young people honor the inherent agency of children.
Radically respectful relationships with the very young are difficult to maintain in Western culture because of society’s demands. Parents, early childhood educators, and healthcare providers are under extreme pressure to view children as future students or adults. Children bring unique perspectives and insights that are squelched when they are forced to conform to social expectations. The adults closest to young children, often unconsciously, enforce social standards and silence children’s authentic expressions. To engage in radical respect, adults must notice and challenge their own assumptions about their roles, then attend carefully to children’s many forms of communication to understand and honor their viewpoints. By intentionally noticing and disrupting our own socially-constructed expectations, we can open ourselves and our society to the joyful curiosity, creativity, and playfulness that children embody.
Radical respect is the underpinning of authentic relationships and unconditional love. Radically respectful relationships create freedom for all who engage in them. Freedom to be, freedom to learn, and freedom to grow. Radically respectful relationships allow adults to see and appreciate children for the contributions they make to society in each moment, rather than for their future potential.
