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Guatemalan migrants recently released from federal detention sit with their three-year-old daughter at a bus depot on June 11, 2019, in McAllen, Texas. (Photo: Loren Elliott/AFP/Getty Images)
After Demanding 'Human Decency, Plain and Simple,' Highlights Magazine Commended for Powerful Rebuke of Trump's Abuse of Children
"When a 72-year-old, apolitical children's magazine feels the need to speak out you know we are lost as a country."
Jun 26, 2019
The popular children's magazine Highlights is receiving praise on Wednesday after issuing powerful condemnation of the Trump administration's family separation policy at the border, with its CEO saying the U.S. government's current behavior is an affront to both "moral courage" and the publication's core belief that "children are the world's most important people."
"Let our children draw strength and inspiration from our collective display of moral courage. They are watching."
--Kent Johnson, Highlights
CEO Kent Johnson demanded that the administration end its forced separation of families and detention of thousands of children in unsafe conditions, calling Trump's policies "unconscionable" and asking readers--regardless of political or partisan affiliation--to call their representatives and demand the same.
"This is a statement about human decency, plain and simple," Johnson wrote. "This is a plea for recognition that these are not simply the children of strangers for whom others are accountable."
Highlights, Johnson wrote, has spent its 73-year history publishing content based on the idea that all children have the "inalienable right" to feel safe and be provided with "the opportunity to become their best selves."
"This is a belief about ALL children," he emphasized.
The letter was released amid growing public fury over reports of children in U.S. custody being denied access to necessities like toothbrushes and soap--only compounding the outrage over the Trump administration's indefinite detention of children who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border after fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries.
On social media, immigrant rights advocates and other observers praised the magazine and thanked Johnson for taking a clear stance on the side of children and against the Trump administration's abuse of young immigrants.
The fact that a children's magazine was driven to the point of pleading with the president to end the detention of children, some noted, underscored the dire circumstances into which Trump has led the nation.
The letter's message was partially meant for young readers themselves, Johnson added, as the magazine prides itself in teaching children to develop such traits as confidence, empathy, and curiosity as well as "moral courage."
"Moral courage means standing up for what we believe is right, honest, and ethical--even when it is hard."
"Let our children draw strength and inspiration from our collective display of moral courage," Johnson wrote. "They are watching."
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The popular children's magazine Highlights is receiving praise on Wednesday after issuing powerful condemnation of the Trump administration's family separation policy at the border, with its CEO saying the U.S. government's current behavior is an affront to both "moral courage" and the publication's core belief that "children are the world's most important people."
"Let our children draw strength and inspiration from our collective display of moral courage. They are watching."
--Kent Johnson, Highlights
CEO Kent Johnson demanded that the administration end its forced separation of families and detention of thousands of children in unsafe conditions, calling Trump's policies "unconscionable" and asking readers--regardless of political or partisan affiliation--to call their representatives and demand the same.
"This is a statement about human decency, plain and simple," Johnson wrote. "This is a plea for recognition that these are not simply the children of strangers for whom others are accountable."
Highlights, Johnson wrote, has spent its 73-year history publishing content based on the idea that all children have the "inalienable right" to feel safe and be provided with "the opportunity to become their best selves."
"This is a belief about ALL children," he emphasized.
The letter was released amid growing public fury over reports of children in U.S. custody being denied access to necessities like toothbrushes and soap--only compounding the outrage over the Trump administration's indefinite detention of children who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border after fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries.
On social media, immigrant rights advocates and other observers praised the magazine and thanked Johnson for taking a clear stance on the side of children and against the Trump administration's abuse of young immigrants.
The fact that a children's magazine was driven to the point of pleading with the president to end the detention of children, some noted, underscored the dire circumstances into which Trump has led the nation.
The letter's message was partially meant for young readers themselves, Johnson added, as the magazine prides itself in teaching children to develop such traits as confidence, empathy, and curiosity as well as "moral courage."
"Moral courage means standing up for what we believe is right, honest, and ethical--even when it is hard."
"Let our children draw strength and inspiration from our collective display of moral courage," Johnson wrote. "They are watching."
The popular children's magazine Highlights is receiving praise on Wednesday after issuing powerful condemnation of the Trump administration's family separation policy at the border, with its CEO saying the U.S. government's current behavior is an affront to both "moral courage" and the publication's core belief that "children are the world's most important people."
"Let our children draw strength and inspiration from our collective display of moral courage. They are watching."
--Kent Johnson, Highlights
CEO Kent Johnson demanded that the administration end its forced separation of families and detention of thousands of children in unsafe conditions, calling Trump's policies "unconscionable" and asking readers--regardless of political or partisan affiliation--to call their representatives and demand the same.
"This is a statement about human decency, plain and simple," Johnson wrote. "This is a plea for recognition that these are not simply the children of strangers for whom others are accountable."
Highlights, Johnson wrote, has spent its 73-year history publishing content based on the idea that all children have the "inalienable right" to feel safe and be provided with "the opportunity to become their best selves."
"This is a belief about ALL children," he emphasized.
The letter was released amid growing public fury over reports of children in U.S. custody being denied access to necessities like toothbrushes and soap--only compounding the outrage over the Trump administration's indefinite detention of children who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border after fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries.
On social media, immigrant rights advocates and other observers praised the magazine and thanked Johnson for taking a clear stance on the side of children and against the Trump administration's abuse of young immigrants.
The fact that a children's magazine was driven to the point of pleading with the president to end the detention of children, some noted, underscored the dire circumstances into which Trump has led the nation.
The letter's message was partially meant for young readers themselves, Johnson added, as the magazine prides itself in teaching children to develop such traits as confidence, empathy, and curiosity as well as "moral courage."
"Moral courage means standing up for what we believe is right, honest, and ethical--even when it is hard."
"Let our children draw strength and inspiration from our collective display of moral courage," Johnson wrote. "They are watching."
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