Smart People

In the episode "Election Night" of the White House drama, The West Wing, fictional President Josiah "Jed" Bartlett, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has just been elected to a second term. After delivering his victory speech, he steps down from the stage and has a very candid exchange with his physician wife, First Lady Abbey Bartlett -

• Abbey: "You were off the prompter."
• Jed: "Just for a minute at the end. I couldn't see it."
• Abbey: "It's all right. There are going to be more days like this. It starts now. It's going to be harder this time."
• Jed: "Yeah, I know. We can still have tonight, though, right?"
• Abbey: "You've got lots of nights. Smart people who love you are going to have your back."

"Smart people who love you are going to have your back." 
And just like that, one sentence can magically assuage doubt or fear and dissolve loneliness. How empowering to know that you have a team of bright people who care about you and want to support you.

Many of us have been fortunate enough to know what it's like to feel this way. Our "smart people" may be different for each of us, but somehow we've managed to find other human beings who care about what happens to us and want us to live the very best life we can. It's a powerful thing to feel that your life is a real team effort. When you're lacking courage, wisdom, or strength you can call upon your "smart people" to share some of theirs. 

Of course, not everyone always feels this way. Unfortunately, there are many children who do not feel this way. 

We have an unprecedented number of children taking depression medication. Childhood obesity has doubled in the last 30 years (and yet the number of youth eating disorder cases is still on the rise). Low self-esteem is something both girls and boys are dealing with by engaging in radically unhealthy activities like cutting, bullying, smoking, and drinking. Finally, perhaps the most unspeakably sad fact of all...we have kids killing themselves. Because whatever it is that's plaguing them, it's left them drowning so deep in despair, so hopeless, that they feel as if they can't bear to live at all. 

It's 2013 in the first-world superpower country of the United States of America and we have 9 year-olds with diabetes and 14 year olds committing suicide. We have children in crisis. They may not be the children living in your house, on your street, or even in your neighborhood. But they exist nonetheless. They are in Waynesboro. They are in Staunton. They are in Augusta County. These children do not exist tucked away in some far corner of our community. We are not talking about "the poor children". We are not talking about the "children from bad family situations". We are talking about children of all family structures, of all neighborhoods, of all school districts, of all abilities. There are children in every type of household that are feeling challenged in some way. These children need smart people.

If we want a community of compassionate, engaged, conscientious adults then we must begin investing in raising compassionate, engaged, conscientious children. This effort must be city-wide. It must be daily. It must be genuine. It must extend beyond our own family tree or voting ward. We must share more with these children than a zip code. These are the sons and daughters of this community and we must treat them as such. We must do so knowing that whatever resources we invest in them, whether it's time, money, love, support, or attention, the reward will be far greater for all of us. We will have more human beings who respect themselves and others. They will treat their bodies with care. They will be creative problem solvers and team players. They will be smart people.

Every member of this community has something to contribute. All of us can be "smart people" for these children. 

The Boys and Girls Club is working with its own staff of "smart people" to support this mission.
We want to look every kid in the eye and say"Smart people that love you are going to have your back" --and mean it.