Great day to you, New Day community!
When I was a kid growing up in the 1980s, I remember seeing a commercial on tv that confused me. It was Sally Struthers promoting a campaign to “save the children.” Some of you may remember this was part of a larger relief effort for parts of Africa struck by famine. This was a pressing enough topic at the time that Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote a song about it.
I remember on one occasion, after seeing one of these commercials, I turned and asked my mom a question, genuinely confused. “What about the grown-ups? Why don’t we save them?”
My mom, with an amused look on her face, explained to me that people generally care about helping children more than adults because children “haven’t made any mistakes yet,” are innocent, and therefore aren’t at fault for their suffering. Unlike helping adults, helping children is not controversial.
It’s an interesting paradox that even though we generally hold the mindset that children, as harbingers of possibility on the planet, are worth investing in, caring for, and helping, we also tend to regard them as potentially needing less help because they haven’t made the mistakes of adults. Unless they’ve suffered a major injury or trauma or live in a region ravaged by famine, they’re probably fine!
Take for example, the world of chiropractic care. Many people assume that a child wouldn’t need chiropractic care because they haven’t had the mistake filled, messed up, stressful life that they will later have as an adult (and at that point will need to be fixed).
This general interpretation of kids as inherently problem-free ignores the important fact that kids in this day and age have increasing physical, mental, and emotional stressors. Even in ideal circumstances, kids experience heavy backpacks, physical injuries playing sports, smart phones and computers, too much sitting, ear infections, sugar eating, etc. Just like for adults, these stressors on the nervous system show up as tension in the spinal cord, blockages between the brain and the body, poor posture and physical imbalances, problems in the functioning of internal organs and the immune system, and a stress-based way of behaving and interacting in life.
And many people don’t know that the typical birthing process is when the first major stresses to the spine, nerves, and brain may occur. These stresses, left unaddressed, can have a major impact in the future, as imbalances in childhood create the foundation for growth and development.
Click here for a link to research about kids and chiropractic!
There is also the important fact that many children experience more obvious stressors such as the emotional effects of parental stress and divorce, bullying, abuse, traumas and injuries, and medications. Many of us, as adults, can look back on the stresses on our nervous systems that occurred when we were children and see how these impacted us as we grew into adults. While it may be too late to turn back the clock for us, it isn’t too late to help a child in your life have a better, healthier childhood and adulthood through chiropractic.
But the idea that kids are less likely to benefit from chiropractic because they are inherently healthier than adults also ignores a much, MUCH, more important fact. Chiropractic, NSA care, and New Day exist on the planet for a much bigger reason than fixing or managing problems. New Day exists as a community so that you and your families can know yourselves as people who shine brightly for the world. The world needs more people who know themselves as healthy, bright, and able to make a positive impact on the planet. The ability of the brain and the body to work together through the nerves is how this experience is created.
To draw an analogy, in your life you work at a job and make an income. If you were only allowed to make a certain level of income as long as you had a certain level of monthly bills and debt, you can see you that would be limiting, right? If you’re only allowing yourself or your loved ones to benefit from chiropractic care as long as they are “messed up”, you’re limiting the life changing potential of maintaining a healthy spine and nervous system over time.
Has chiropractic helped a kid you know? Do you have questions about chiropractic or Network Spinal Analysis and your child? Comment below! And call us to ask about making an appointment for your child if you haven’t already.
