29/10/2026
Today, I attended my son’s school show on the solar system. Watching those little faces, their excitement and the effort they put into every performance, I felt proud—and thoughtful.
We nurture their curiosity. We applaud their courage to stand on a stage. We tell them they can become anything.
But what happens as they grow into adolescence? Do we keep listening with the same patience? Do we make room for their questions, their changing emotions and their need for independence?
Harm can enter through bullying, violence, exploitation or pressure to belong. It can also begin quietly: repeated humiliation, unanswered questions, distress dismissed as “bad behaviour”, or the fear of telling an adult what has happened.
Even a deeply loved child will encounter a world their parents cannot fully control. That makes the people and spaces around them matter: schools, friendships, online environments and communities.
Adolescence should be a time to explore, question and gradually find one’s place—with adults who remain present, even when conversations become difficult.
Today, those children reminded us how vast the universe is.
I found myself wondering whether we are building a world where they can grow up feeling safe enough to find their place in it.
