A Caring and Competent Society Revisited: The John F. Kennedy Center at 30

Abstract

Many Americans are deeply concerned about what the future holds for our children. There was a time that speaking of childhood conjured up images of a mother reading a bedtime story to her toddler, or your 4-yearold dressing a teddy bear in doll clothes, or your fifth grader sliding into second base on a playground softball field on a hot summer afternoon. When I was growing up, I had never heard of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome, or pediatric AIDS. Today we are reminded at every turn that our children face unprecedented risks to healthy and normal development. Our children face challenges from the moment of conception, through pregnancy and delivery and into early childhood. And the challenges do not stop there. Too many of our youth are falling through the cracks in our schools, and substance abuse and violence are wreaking havoc on the lives of far too many of our adolescents. Whether we are parents or teachers, business leaders or government officials, there is one thing we can all agree on-our children hold the key to all of our futures, and as a society we must work to guarantee a better tomorrow for all of our children. The John F. Kennedy Center was established by Nicholas