“Much of my ego has been constructed around this idea that I’m not like most girls”, says the 31-year-old mother of three boys with husband Brian Austin Green, 44. “I’m somehow more masculine, tougher, less permeable or feminine.”

Fox is not into labeling herself or others, especially her children. The “Transformers” actress faced backlash in the press and on social media after her oldest son, Noah, now 5, was photographed wearing princess dresses.

“When I became pregnant with Noah, I could feel, through my mother’s intuition I suppose, that he was not subscribing to gender stereotypes, so I decided to provide an environment for him early on that would allow him to discover how he wanted to express himself,” she says.

Don’t set limits

Kids are creative by nature.

“If a boy loves princesses and a girl loves baseball, that’s not indicative of their sexuality,” Fox says. It’s indicative of their communication and creative expression. We can’t limit children by telling them how they should play.”

Trying to control how kids play sends them subtle, constant messages that their instincts are wrong. All those attempts to control, “will only lead them down a complicated and difficult path full of self-criticism and emptiness,” she says.

Her advice? If a child’s innocent play triggers a negative emotion, use the situation as an opportunity to expand their awareness and heal old wounds.

Giving kids space

Fox encourages other parents to implement non-gender binary lifestyles for their children. Start by giving kids “the space to find the things that resonate with them,” she says. Then encourage them.

For example, when a boy shows interest in painting or dancing, he should be given an art set or signed up for a dance class.

“Don’t insist on buying him a football for Christmas,” she says, explaining a child’s soul is pure and knows what feels right.

She emphasizes parents need to respect children as individuals and not try to control them.

“It’s not our job to shape them into the people we think they should be,” says Fox. “It’s our job to receive, with grace, the lessons they bring us. Children are mirrors that reflect back to us our shadow selves, our shame and our insecurities.”

She concludes, “It’s our job to love and nurture the child as they are so they can thrive as adults.”

Give kids validation

Speaking out about raising gender neutral kids can be both risky and rewarding.

“I think most mothers feel a pull on their hearts to let their children be who they are but because of their own conditioning and because of their current enviornment they acquiesce to pressures to raise the children in a more rigid traditional way,” says Fox.

She wants other parents to know it’s okay to let kids be themselves. “If by speaking out, I can validate any of those latent feelings, any of those small whispers in a mother, then I am incredibly grateful to have used my voice for something so honorable.”

The post Actress Megan Fox on Gender Neutral Children: Let Them Be Who They Are appeared first on Education and Career News.

Knowledge is power

Billions take advantage of free resources offered by our nation’s libraries each year. My earliest library memory is of San Antonio Public Library’s summer reading program.  That summer I learned that knowledge is power.   

Each trip to the library pulled me deeper into a world of opportunities, paving the way for my role as the president of the world’s largest and oldest library association – the American Library Association. 

My story is not unique. Indeed, libraries provide the foundation for literacy and transform lives through education and lifelong learning. I have witnessed job-seekers secure employment opportunities by using free library resources and the expertise of librarians.  

In their early literacy services, libraries build children’s confidence by providing parents and caregivers with free story hours and book clubs. Last year libraries circulated more than 2.4 billion items, more than 34 percent of them were children’s materials.

A plethora of resources

It’s not just books making the difference in children’s lives. According to the U.S. Department of Education, in 2011 only 32 percent of American eighth grade students performed at or above the proficient level in science. Libraries benefit STEM learners by introducing underrepresented learners to important concepts and skills, including authentic scientific practices.

Adult learners also find support at libraries.  Libraries transform lives through programs such as Project Read, which helps English-speaking adults improve basic skills, Literacy Link, which teaches reading and writing skills to functionally illiterate adults, and the American Dream Starts @ your library, which improves literacy services for adult English language learners.

You don’t have to read between the lines to see the essential relationship between libraries and literacy. It is as simple as A, B, and C.

The post How Public Libraries Transform Lives and Communities appeared first on Education and Career News.