Today's Children, Tomorrow's Leaders: Are We Neglecting the Agents of Change?

There is an abundant body of knowledge suggesting that early experience influences later human behavior. Based on the literature, this article suggests that human development at the individual level has far-reaching consequences for the social, economic, and political development of a people. For instance, education, one measure of human development, has been inaccessible to more than 50 percent of school age children in Ethiopia. To effect fundamental change in Ethiopia, attention and resources must be dedicated to children's well-being and potential. The article also discusses the role that current environmental conditions may play in the development of learned helplessness in Ethiopian children. Because of the country's limited resources, nonformal education that taps traditional Ethiopian resources for fostering children's development is proposed.