The 8th annual Festival of Childhood was not your standard bounce house and hotdogs affair. Put on by the Center for Nonviolent Education & Parenting, the festival is a model for how sharing creativity with family and community can build strong bonds. Unlike many other family-oriented events, this one did not emphasize consumption. Nothing was for sale except the food (very moderately priced, healthy and homemade), and the T-shirts and books from the Center. All the entertainment and activities were offered for free.
The whole block in front of the Echo Park Methodist Church, where the Center is housed, turned into a street party. This area, just off of Alvarado near Sunset has become a cultural center in this very multicultural neighborhood. Machine Project, the Echo Park Film Center and the new library are clustered here, along with other galleries and restaurants.
The Festival had over 25 booths filled with interactive, kid-friendly fun: making paper hats, peace flags, and origami flowers, binding books, playing with clay, planting a garden, doing “goofy aerobics,” listening to a story, and more. The volunteers I observed seem to run their booths with real joy. Many of them have personally benefited from the Center's parenting classes and wanted to give back. Children and parents of every race and economic strata filled the tables with enthusiastic participation.
My son and I spent a long time drawing on the pavement in the chalk painting area, which featured several local artists creating large and colorful images. There was a contingent of excited little boys scribbling there for hours, pretty much covered in chalk, drawing dragons and snakes. Their enthusiasm was infectious.
The entertainment on stage started off with Maggie Baird of Music Together leading a circle of singing and movement geared especially for 0- to 4-year-olds and their grownups. The philosophy of Music Together fits well with that of the Center – all children are musical and, to have a strong musical foundation, simply need regular opportunities to make music with their parents in a playful way. Modeling is a key part of it.
Later in the program several people got up and told stories of how the Center had made a difference in their lives, giving them the tools and support to change bad habits and meet difficult family situations with love and creative problem solving.
The heart of the work of the Center is the parenting classes. In them the principles of non-violence are taught, as they relate to the everyday challenges of raising kids. They want to help parents move beyond conditional parenting into relationships based on respect, where children can truly thrive and grow into healthy adults. The Festival fosters these principles on many levels.
As I walked around the booths listening to rocking sounds of the Masanga Marimba Ensemble with their super-danceable, Zimbabwean flavor, I noticed the many signs hung about the booths. They declared in English and Spanish some of the principles of non-violence: "To respect self and others," "To respect Nature," "To be courageous," "To Listen." Many events that are supposedly geared for kids are nothing but a candy and plastic toy fest. Rather than pandering to the lowest common denominator, this festival inspires participants to express their higher selves.
The Center's T-shirts say "Raising Children With Care, Raising Children To Care" because they believe that if children are raised nonviolently; they will learn to care for themselves, others, and the wider world with skill and grace. What could be more worldchanging?
