Alicia Stoller
@aliciastoller.bsky.social
400 followers 130 following 350 posts
Trying to stay tender and brave in dark times. I write about cultivating a resilient form of hope that helps us resist passivity. If we want a brighter future, we have to make it. (M.S.Ed.) https://www.notesonhope.net/
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aliciastoller.bsky.social
As a country, we talk a lot about protecting children. But our record when it comes to children’s rights is…well…terrible.

To truly protect and care for children, we need to get much better at listening to them. And we need an honest reckoning with the dark history of “parents’ rights.”
We Need to Talk About Children’s Rights
And about the seductive mirage of parents’ rights
www.notesonhope.net
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
pettyyeti.bsky.social
my autistic kid has a totally different year at school depending on who his teacher is. accommodation is so important for autism. my autistic kid is brilliant and funny and kind, and I wouldn't give him a "cure" if they found one. he just needs help navigating our neurotypically-normative world
aliciastoller.bsky.social
And parents, please know that your most important job is to love the child you have, not the child you imagined. Often this means letting go of a vision of your child that was never real—a vision you probably conjured before they were even born. But I promise, loving your real child will be sweeter.
The Love That's Possible
Even when everything appears to be going wrong
www.notesonhope.net
aliciastoller.bsky.social
If you work with kids in any capacity, this data makes your acceptance even more vital.

Feeling connected to a non-parental adult can significantly mitigate high risk outcomes. Too many trans teens don't make it to adulthood, in part because they don't always have support at home. Be a safe haven.
erininthemorning.com
1. In a devastating new Pew Research Survey, only 3 in 10 transgender adults report being accepted by their parents.

And only 1 in 10 say they are accepted by their extended family.

This is the lowest number ever found in surveys asking similar questions.

Subscribe to support our journalism.
Pew Survey: Only 31% Of Trans People Report Being Accepted By Their Parents
The survey comes as transgender people experience a legal assault from the far-right in the United States.
www.erininthemorning.com
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
oldenoughtosay.com
the answer to the trolley problem is not to pick who to sacrifice, it’s to dismantle the system that led to an unsafe trolley crossing.

if any part of your morality strategy involves picking a group to let die on a hill, throw the entire strategy out. it’s wrong.
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Community is vital, especially now. So much depends on our willingness to protect and care for each other.

But community is what we make of it and how we enact it. Community can be a force for compassion…or for enforcing conformity and exclusion, as any child on the playground can tell you.
Giving Care More Social Clout
How we understand community and resist the appeal of bullies
www.notesonhope.net
aliciastoller.bsky.social
The whole thread below from @nome.bsky.social is really wonderful and surprisingly hopeful. Airports...who knew?!

It reminded me of the poem Gate A-4 by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
aliciastoller.bsky.social
When I say that whimsy isn't frivolous and that it can actually be a powerful tool in frightening times, a protestor in a frog costume standing up to a row of armed agents is what I mean.

Playfulness can be powerful.
petertl.bsky.social
This photo from Portland by @reuters.com's Carlos Barria 👌
A demonstrator dressed in an inflatable frog costume stands infront of law enforcement officers during a protest outside of the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) headquarters in south Portland, Oregon, U.S., October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Community is vital, especially now. So much depends on our willingness to protect and care for each other.

But community is what we make of it and how we enact it. Community can be a force for compassion…or for enforcing conformity and exclusion, as any child on the playground can tell you.
Giving Care More Social Clout
How we understand community and resist the appeal of bullies
www.notesonhope.net
aliciastoller.bsky.social
@erininthemorning.com's thread on the tiny number of families who opt out of LGBTQ+ education for their kids clearly illustrates an essential fact of the "parents' rights movement." It's not really a movement driven by parents.

The vast majority of parents are not represented by these laws.
aliciastoller.bsky.social
A hopeful little data point. Seems like it's still a pretty popular document!
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Frightening times can make it seem frivolous and inappropriate to seek out whimsy. But, actually, embracing whimsy is most powerful when the world feels dark.

Remember that it was a child, after all, who announced that the emperor had no clothes.

Go big with your most playful instincts.
aliciastoller.bsky.social
This week I wrote about why being open to whimsy and going big with your most playful impulses is especially important when the world feels dark and scary.

Whimsy reminds us to insist on joy. It connects us to each other. And whimsy made bold and public can even change the course of history.
Have Some Whimsy!
The power in going big with your most playful impulses
www.notesonhope.net
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
nikitagill.bsky.social
I can’t begin to tell you how damaging “the world isn’t fair, get used to it” line has been to every child’s psyche growing up and therefore has led to a world that stays unfair. If we teach children to get used to an unfair world, we are destroying the possibility of a better world.
aliciastoller.bsky.social
This week I wrote about why being open to whimsy and going big with your most playful impulses is especially important when the world feels dark and scary.

Whimsy reminds us to insist on joy. It connects us to each other. And whimsy made bold and public can even change the course of history.
Have Some Whimsy!
The power in going big with your most playful impulses
www.notesonhope.net
aliciastoller.bsky.social
"If you don't hope that there's a way out. If you don't hope that your actions can make a difference, then you sink into apathy and do nothing. So hope is absolutely crucial if we're to get through this."
#Jane #Goodall On The Need For Hope #time #news
YouTube video by TIME
youtube.com
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
joshuajfriedman.com
Meanwhile, Des Moines students stage a walkout to protest their superintendent's detention www.desmoinesregister.com/picture-gall...
A crowd of teenage students walk on a brick path beneath trees. Some hold signs—one says "ICE MELTS UNDER RESISTANCE."
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Also, this info from Common Sense Media, which is usually pretty measured in its guidance, is important. They advise that social AI companions pose an "unacceptable risk" to kids and teens.
Social AI Companions
Social AI Companions - Learn more and get Common Sense Media's research-backed tips.
www.commonsensemedia.org
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
madhippie.bsky.social
Another worthy read💜
aliciastoller.bsky.social
I didn't have time to boost last week’s note as much as I meant to, so I'm resurfacing it for the weekend crowd.

It's about our obsession with debate as the be-all and end-all of free speech, why this is often ineffective at best and harmful at worst, and whose voices are silenced as a result.
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Speech isn’t only valuable in debate. Poetry, painting, and storytelling, comedy and prayer, late night conversations whispered across the dark, the cries of protestors, and the composition of a song all express our freedom. What if we held these forms up with the same reverence we do dueling words?
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Thank you so much for reading and sharing! It means a lot. 💖
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Oh, wow. You made my day! 🥹💜
Reposted by Alicia Stoller
teemccarthy.bsky.social
If you have any type of relationship with a child. If you are a parent, a teacher, a children’s worker in any capacity, this is an absolute must read. It’s so good. I promise you’ll be touched by its beauty. Thank you SO much, Alicia Stoller @aliciastoller.bsky.social , for sharing your insights.💞😎💞
aliciastoller.bsky.social
As a country, we talk a lot about protecting children. But our record when it comes to children’s rights is…well…terrible.

To truly protect and care for children, we need to get much better at listening to them. And we need an honest reckoning with the dark history of “parents’ rights.”
We Need to Talk About Children’s Rights
And about the seductive mirage of parents’ rights
www.notesonhope.net
aliciastoller.bsky.social
Thank you so much for reading and for your incredibly kind words! I'm so grateful to know that this note was meaningful to you and deeply appreciative of your sharing it with others. It was an especially important one to me. 💖