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Parents Forum is part of Gannett Foundation’s four-week fundraising challenge called ‘A Community Thrives’. It starts Monday Sept. 21 at noon and runs through Friday October 16. Please support us!

A democracy relies on law and order, yes. However, “the smallest democracy at the heart of society” (as the 1994 UN International Year of the Family called it), a family, needs love and order. Amid the rightful outrage and peaceful street protests worldwide, it is nearly impossible to muster the peace of mind required to focus on love in our hearts, our homes, our communities.

Parents are under enormous pressure and, like it or not, they have become teachers, cafeteria workers, coaches and custodians for their children, at home every day. COVID-19 is changing almost every aspect of community life, but it will not alter the central role of parents in children's lives. Parents, according to Keri Rodrigues, founding president of the National Parents Union (United States - US), "are desperate to go back to work but at the same time terrified of this deadly virus." Now is the time to improve support for parents.

Small children cry out in distress and, while it is easy to tell that they need something, parents or caregivers may not recognize right away what solace or satisfaction the child needs. School-age children make their needs known too, usually with words, although sometimes by whining or acting up. Unhappy teenagers take their distress out on themselves: self-injury and substance abuse are their silent cries. Desperate young people, even children as young as ten, according to the U.S. National Runaway Safeline, feel pushed to the brink and leave their homes.

Eve Sullivan and Christine Bates, both long-time MIT employees, received an MIT Excellence Award in recognition of their volunteer work in creating PARENTS FORUM. The award ceremony for PARENTS FORUM co-founders and 38 other award recipients was held in Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus.