In Britain，as many as 20% of families will only sit down and have dinner together once a year. Once a year! And what about the time-honored tradition of reading your kid a bedtime story? Research from the 1980s showed that children who are read to，had far greater literacy and significantly outperformed their peers at school. And yet，less than 33% of British children aged two to eight have a regular bedtime story read to them. You may not think much of that until you take into account that 75% of their parents did have that bedtime story when they were at the same age. Clearly，we do not have to ask ourselves where all of this pain，anger and violent behavior come from. It is self-evident that children are thundering against the neglect，quaking against the indifference and crying out just to be noticed. The various children protection agencies in the US say that millions of children are victims of maltreatment in the form of neglect，in the average year. Yes，neglect. In rich homes，privileged homes，they are wired to the hilt with every electronic gadget. Homes where parents come back，but they’re not really at home，because their heads are still at the office. And their kids? Well，their kids just make do with whatever emotional crumbs they get. And you don’t get much from endless TV，computer games and videos. These hard，cold numbers which for me，wrench the soul and shake the spirit，should indicate to you why I have devoted so much of my time and resources into making our new Heal the Kids initiative a colossal success. Our goal is simple—to recreate the parent and child bond，to renew its promise and to light the way forward for all the beautiful children who are destined one day to walk this earth. But since this is my first public lecture，and you have so warmly welcomed me into your hearts，I feel that I want to tell you more. We each have our own story，and in that sense statistics can become personal. They say that parenting is like dancing. You take one step，your child takes another. I have discovered that getting parents to rededicate themselves to their children is only half the story. The other half is preparing the children to reaccept their parents.
谢谢，谢谢各位亲爱的朋友，对大家如此热烈的欢迎，我由衷地表示感谢。谢谢主席，对您的盛意邀请，我感到万分荣幸。同时，我特别地感谢犹太教律法家史马里，感谢您11年来在牛津大学所做的工作。您和我一起努力建立“拯救儿童”这个机构，就如我们写关于儿童素质的书一样辛苦，但您自始至终都如朋友一样给了我莫大的支持和关爱。我还要感谢“治愈儿童之家”的理事托巴·弗里德曼，她将于今晚返回母校。她曾经作为马歇尔计划中的一个学者在这里工作过。当然还要感谢我们“治愈儿童之家”的另一位核心成员玛里琳·皮耶尔。
……
今晚，我不想以一个流行偶像的身份出现在大家面前，我更愿意代表一代人，一代不了解作为孩子有什么意义的见证人站在这里。
……
现在，这已经成为全世界的灾难。人的童年已经成了现代生活的巨大的牺牲品。我们使周围的许多孩子失去了欢乐，没有享受到他们相应的权利，孩子们不曾获得自由，而我们还自以为是地认为孩子就应该是这样的。现在，大人们经常鼓励孩子们成长得快一些，好像这个叫做童年的时代是一个累赘的人生阶段，并且我们不厌其烦地想着法儿让它尽可能地快些结束。在这个问题上，我无疑是世界上最专业的人士之一了。我们这一代亲历了废除亲子盟约。
……
