History teaches us that there are significant events that are pivotal in shaping our future. In 2012, we believe the seeds were planted here in Memphis that have the power to shape the coming years for our community. It is the year that our message about brain development in early childhood gathered important momentum, took on a sense of urgency, and assumed its place as one of our top priorities in this community.
More and more people are seeing our Baby Small campaign is continuing and we're excited that it's getting rave reviews. Here are a few comments we've heard. This is our chance to change Memphis by making these small investments in our children, we make the biggest difference in their lives and in turn, our community as a whole. Their future is our future, and we need your help to change it for the better.
The most important story on television and radio these days isn't on the news broadcasts.
Rather, it's the commercial with this message: The most important change Memphis needs is Baby Small.
There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come. We say that often these days at The Urban Child Institute, because it seems that everywhere we look people are talking about the importance and impact of early brain development.
Parents often ask us what matters most in the raising of their young children. Our answer: Everything. And the best child-rearing begins before the baby is even born. A lot of parents believe that their children are born hard-wired for life, but the truth is that it's the parents themselves that largely hard-wire their children.
Memphis Mayor A C Wharton recently talked to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam about toxic stress, brain development, and epigenetics. The mayor may not have used those actual words, but in asking for the state's help to fight Memphis' intractable poverty, he was discussing them nonetheless.
