Ethiconnect for Kids! Ethiconnect: A Gift- Of kids, from kids,… to the World!

Why Ethiconnect? A note from a grown-up Some of the adults in the world believe that we’re not doing a very good job of taking care of the world. The world will be yours for a long time and we think that it’s fair for you to have a say in what happens to the world. Some adults have been talking about a global ethic. This is kind of a pact-- for people to agree to treat other people the way that they’d want to be treated (like the Golden Rule). The problem is that it is only adults that are talking about this global ethic and a lot of times adults are way too, well…… adult. Sometimes, we forget some of the most important things and sometimes we are so busy that we feel overwhelmed and sometimes we’re just so used to the way that things are that we can’t see that they don’t have to be that way. Sometimes we forget that there is magic in the world. A lot of times we think that we know what’s best and we know how to protect and care for our children. But a lot times we don’t and some of us really want to tell you the truth about that. We need your help and the world needs your help. If you kids decide that you can show the world that you are one group of children across the whole planet and that that group of kids is your family too…. then you will grow-up knowing a different truth than the adults now do. And like the rainbow, which some say is only an illusion, that truth will change the world. All that you have to do is try your best and believe in the connection between you and all of the other kids in the world. Some of you may understand this and some of you may not. You can be part of ethiconnect whether you think you understand it or not. You only have to be willing to try!

Ethiconnect: Just the Basics Ethiconnect is the an invitation: From two kids To all children on earth To form the largest group of kids in the world To have the power to change the world To do something about what you see is not good in the world To ensure the world has the one thing that you most need To protect the earth for when you are grown-up To do something interesting right now! To help you be the person that you want to be

First, Let’s Talk about Rainbows! We are going to use rainbows to help you understand and to remember some important things about Ethiconnect. Ethiconnect is just a word that we came up with to describe a pact between kids all over Earth to belong to the largest group of kids in the world. All the kids on the planet are invited! The Ethi part stands for the word ethics. Ethics is kind of a grown-up word that means how people think we should behave. Did you know that no two people see or can see the same rainbow? It looks different to every single person who sees it, depending on exactly where your eyes are when you see it. So even if someone is standing right next to you when you’re looking at a rainbow, they see a slightly different rainbow. That word, ethics, is a lot like rainbows in that way. Everyone has a different meaning for ethics. Not even a dictionary can tell you what ethics really are because each person has their own definition and they are all a little (and sometimes a lot) different from one another. The most important part of the word Ethiconnect is connect. I’m sure that you know what connect means even though you may never have really thought about it. A connection takes one thing and attaches it to another, right? The Rainbow is a connection or at least shows a connection! It shows the connection between three things-- sunlight, water and air. This is why we chose the rainbow as a symbol of the connection between children all over the world. The beautiful colors of rainbow show how magical connections can be. We will talk about those colors too and how the magic of those colors is just like the magic that you have! One more very important thing about rainbows that has to do with Ethiconnect is that it’s what you believe—that makes it real! Some people say that rainbows are only an illusion. Do you believe that? Some people will say that a connection of kids all over the world is an illusion-- or even that it’s impossible. We don’t think so. We think that If you’re willing to try, we can show those people that we have the power to change the world! Even if you don’t understand all of the ideas we’re going to talk about, or if you are not sure about whether this can be real, we hope that you’ll be willing to try anyway. That’s truly all that you can do-- be wiling to never stop trying.

Taking Apart the Rainbow—just for a minute! Ok… It gets a little harder here but don’t worry! You can take your time and read this many times if you need to and if you have someone to talk with about this, that would be great! And remember all you have to do is keep trying. We promise that one day you will understand even if you don’t right now. And, if you do understand now, you will probably understand it differently as you get older. (you see it differently every time you look at it– just like a rainbow!) We’re just going to talk about the three things that are connected in a rainbow. Do you remember them? Sunlight, water and air. Ok, Think of these parts of the rainbow as being those things in life that are free and that you can’t touch. Think of Sunlight as all the best ones! Some that we thought of are love, joy, laughter, kindness, acceptance, smiles, sharing. Can you think of more? There are lots and lots of them. Think of Rain as the worst– like meanness, hatred, fear, hunger, loneliness, pain. There are a lot of these too. And then there’s Air. Think of Air as all of the in-between stuff. Everything else. There’s probably a lot of in-between stuff that doesn’t seem really good or really bad to you. We’re going to think of this as air. Are you Confused? You don’t have to remember this to be a part of Ethiconnect. When we were trying to even understand what we would like to see happen in the world, it was hard! And it was even harder to put into words. Then we realized that there were lots of things about rainbows that somehow gave a picture of what we were trying to say. Once we had tied our thoughts together with the picture of the rainbow, we could understand it better. We’re hoping that by having a picture of a rainbow in your mind, you’ll be able to understand and remember ethiconnect more easily. You can come back and read this any time you want if you forget. Just like the rainbow shows the beauty of the connection between air and rain and sunlight, we believe Ethiconnect will show the beauty of the connection between the BEST things and the WORST things and all the other things in life that are free and that we cannot touch.

The Rain  We just wanted to say a couple of things about rain. These helped us to understand some things about the bad things in our world and why they have to be a part of Ethiconnect even though we wanted Ethiconnect to be just a good thing. Here’s the deal! There can’t be a rainbow without the rain. There has to be water in the air to reflect the light in order to make a rainbow. Remember that we’re using rain to be the picture of “the bad stuff” in life for Ethiconnect. This means that there can’t be ethiconnect without the bad things in life. { It seems to be part of the deal– for everyone! } Also, rain drops are not all one shape or size. In fact they are all different shapes and sizes and they are always moving. This means that the bad stuff in life doesn’t look one way. No one can say exactly what “bad” looks like. It always looks different to different people and even the same person sees the bad stuff as being something different at different times in their life.

The Sunlight! Yeah! Sunlight is only out about half of the day on most parts of the planet. But when you go to bed at night, we’d bet that you still know that the sun is out there and will shine again (even if the clouds block it) the next day. We do. And, we know that even when it’s pitch dark where we are, somewhere in the world there are kids playing in the sunlight! Again, we’re thinking about sunlight as the best free things in life that you can’t touch. So, even during times that we can’t see very many really good things out there, we can trust that, like the sun that gives the light, the source of them is all around, all day, every day. And that somewhere, other kids in our group who are connected to us are seeing them.

Here’s the Action! Finally! The Ethiconnect Pact: 2 Steps Think about what “sunlight” you most need in your life right now– remember this is something that is free and that you cannot touch! You are going to ask yourself this question every day. Are you willing to do this? It is important! We will talk about why it is important very soon. HINT: (This “need” might change all the time or it might stay the same your whole life! As long as you ask yourself the question each day “what do I most need?,” it is ok either way) And, you can ask yourself many times each day if you want to. We think there are good reasons to. 2. Try your best every day to GIVE that “sunlight” to the world! That’s right! We said GIVE. So, you’re actually going to figure out what you really, really need in this world. And then, instead of trying to go get it from other people. You are going to try your hardest to give it away in the world. At this point, you might think that this is really strange! But please give it a try. We wouldn’t ask you do this if it wasn’t important!

It’s time for the Colors! All of this talk of rainbows and not one sentence about the magical colors. We saved this for the end because we knew that you’d want to hear more about magic! Now matter what the scientists say, we know that rainbows are part magic and we think that Ethiconnect has magic too. We know that we have to have the best things (sunlight) and the worst things (rain) in order to see the colors of a rainbow . When there is rain, there is a chance that there will be enough sunlight to make a rainbow. The air is already there. That’s good. One les thing to worry about! In the same way, there has to be enough good things right in the middle of the bad things happening in order to see the magic of our connection to one another . We have a lot of bad things happening in and to our world today. Ethiconnect gives us a chance to make sure that during rainy times, there is still enough good stuff out there, so that during those times, the magic of our connection can be seen. By really thinking about what you most need from the world and then trying your best to give that, you are being the sunlight. You’re going to give the world what you most need so that at those times when there is rain, and there will be rain, enough sunlight will let the world see our colors! You will know that you and all of your brothers and sisters of your global tribe of kids created this rainbow. And you will show the world that the rainbow is not just an illusion. Just because we can’t touch a rainbow, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. And just because the adults haven’t come together as a global group, doesn’t mean that we kids can’t! One more thing. Did you know that we can’t even see all of the colors that exist! This means that none of us will always know what gifts other people are giving. Just because we can’t see every kids gift, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

Why a Pact? A pact is a promise. You’re promising all other kids in the world that you’ll try your best every day to give the world what you most need. You’ll probably find that we often need the same things! If everyone is giving what they most need, then what everyone most needs will be in the world. You will know that many, many other children are putting energy into making the world a better place. The more kids who agree to connect for a better world, the faster you will see the magic. You will bring about a world where people know that we all have a common goal. It is easier to remember to try your best every day if your friends and brothers and sisters are trying too, and are talking about it! It is harder to let a lot people down when you know that they’re depending on you. It helps you to know that it is real! It feels good to belong to a group and this group is different than any other group. It doesn’t leave out anyone.

Let’s Create Our World! We kids hold up this world… with a strength that’s all our own. You’ll see the difference we can make, one day when we are grown. We are brothers and sisters of this Earth- members of one powerful tribe. Giving from our hearts makes us stronger, united by what’s inside. We’re a new generation of kids and we can make this world better. We are a new generation of kids, standing united…Standing Together!

Thanks for reading… Sean Duffy, 11 Elle Duffy, 9 Jennifer Duffy (mom)