From the author: My thoughts from what I read. I wrote about what is close and understandable to me... After reading Janusz Korczak’s article “The Child’s Right to Respect,” I thought about how important it is to realize that a child is not a future person, not a future citizen, but a real one! Childhood – These are long, important years in a person’s life. And how important it is to respect a child - his personality, interests, decisions! Respect him as we respect an adult! “The child is not stupid; There are no more fools among them than among adults. A child has a future, but he also has a past: memorable events, memories and many hours of the most truly lonely thoughts. Just like us - no differently - he remembers and forgets, appreciates and underestimates, reasons logically and is mistaken if he does not know. He carefully believes and doubts. The child is a foreigner, he does not understand the language, does not know the direction of the streets, does not know the laws and customs. Sometimes he prefers to look around himself; difficult - will ask for guidance and advice. We need a guide who will politely answer questions.” Probably, many of us will remember how in childhood our parents sometimes did not hear or understand us when we wanted something: to do something IMPORTANT, to tell something INTERESTING, to act according to -to your own. It was as if we weren't taken seriously. And to this day it remains in our memory. What do we do with our children? Are we trying to understand our child? Let's put ourselves in the child's place and imagine for a moment that at the moment we have an ADULT who decides what is best for us. HE knows better what to wear, where to go, how much to eat and when, with whom to communicate and with whom not, and our opinion is not important to him. How are you feeling now? For me, for example, this picture evoked a feeling of hopelessness, loneliness and protest... I wanted to shout: “I AM!” “Unaccustomed to pain, insult, injustice, children suffer deeply and therefore cry more often, but even a child’s tears evoke humorous remarks, seem less important, and make them angry. “Look, he’s squealing, roaring, whining, he’s starting to wail.” (A bouquet of words from the adult dictionary). Tears of stubbornness and capriciousness are tears of powerlessness and rebellion, a desperate attempt at protest, a call for help, a complaint about the negligence of guardianship, evidence that children are unreasonably restrained and coerced, a manifestation of poor health and always suffering. "Let's treat the child as an adult a (real) person who understands everything, who has his own opinion. This is the essence of respect for the child’s personality. I think he will feel it right away! Let's learn to listen and hear him, understand and be sincere, because this is what healthy relationships are built on. Sometimes it seems to me that children are more mature than ADULTS! “Do we yield tactfully, avoid unnecessary friction, make life together easier? Aren't we ourselves stubborn, picky, quarrelsome and capricious? A child attracts our attention when he interferes and causes confusion; we notice and remember only these moments. And we don’t see him when he’s calm, serious, and focused. We underestimate sinless moments of conversation with ourselves, the world, and God. The child is forced to hide his melancholy and inner impulses from ridicule and harsh remarks; hides the desire to explain himself, and does not express a decision to improve.” Why do you think we do this? Maybe precisely because our parents once did not give us the opportunity to LIVE? “How will a child be able to live tomorrow if we do not allow him to live a conscious, responsible life today?” And, unfortunately, we do not want to use the rich heritage of knowledge and experience that we have. Psychologists and teachers have made many discoveries, identified the laws of development and education, identified significant factors in the formation of a child’s harmonious personality, and many others. But, for the most part, this is not interesting to modern society. We limit ourselves to the experience of raising our mothers, grandmothers, and acquaintances. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists emphasized the importance of accepting the child’s personality, his individuality. By examining the works of psychologists and teachers, one can see that they came to the same conclusion - in!