About the Documentary Series

Changing the Conversation

The way we talk changes the way we work. More than 700 Partners and countless others are using The Raising of America to change the conversation about why some children thrive while others flounder—and society’s role during the crucial early years.

Screenings in classrooms, trainings, policy forums and community dialogs are sparking new conversations which go beyond ‘parenting’ to ask how organizations, municipalities, states and even the nation might better assure the conditions every child needs for a strong start.

What is the Series About?

Why are so many children in the richest country on the planet faring so poorly? What are the consequences for the nation’s future? How might we do better?

Neuroscience underscores how a child’s earliest surrounding and interactions shape the developing brain, building the foundations for life-long cognitive and emotional development, even mental and physical health.

But too often families and communities are pressed by lack of time, money and resources. Job insecurity and low wages, lack of paid family leave, childcare that is both poor quality and unaffordable, racial stigma, and of course the trauma of adverse child experiences and racial exclusion can all get ‘under the skin’ of young children altering brain architecture. The costs? More emotional, behavior, substance abuse and learning problems later in life.

But it’s not only our children who are at risk. Our current policies are under-developing America. If we want our children to do better in school and in life, we can’t wait until they enter kindergarten.

The series’ Signature Hour asks how we might make a strong start the birthright of every infant in the U.S. The four additional episodes dive in for a closer look. Will the U.S. invest in its youngest children and their families, or will it squander its own future?