Make sure that your kids or the kids in your life have an opportunity to share their ideas, and to teach you something about what we know.

Students read for tests and because their parents ask them to, but I think it's very important to tell children that you can read for fun, too, and to understand human spirit. It builds empathy.

Young people are often asked, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' and given advice about how to lead meaningful adult lives, but where's the encouragement to lead meaningful lives right now?

None of my friends don't have Facebook accounts. Op-eds and studies can highlight our decreased enthusiasm for Facebook 'til the cows come home, but it doesn't change the fact that we are chained to the beast. Voluntarily, of course.

By bringing current events into the classroom, everyday discussion, and social media, maybe we don't need to wait for our grandchildren's questions to remind us we should have paid more attention to current events.

The traits the word 'childish' addresses are seen so often in adults that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking.

We're used to the characteristics of social media - participation, connection, instant gratification - and when school doesn't offer the same, it's easy to tune out.

Ineffective substitute teaching is a problem that means thousands of hours of lost learning for America's students. It cannot be dismissed with a sigh and 'Just wait for the teacher to come back on Monday.'

We always reference kids but very rarely ask their opinion. Our inexperience might be what gives us the ability to teach our elders something, due to the fact that we are not jaded or cynical.

I think women should be more independent. In society, we're portrayed as people who simply wear make-up and sit around. We need a Princess Charming - a woman who rescues her man and slays the dragon instead of the other way round.

I think one of the keys to better writing is releasing all of your ideas and to not be afraid. Dream big. This could be the greatest novel in the world you know.

To try to teach ignoring technology is to ignore the progress that we have made over the last century. If school is preparation for the real world - a real world that is increasingly technology-driven - then to ignore technology is to become obsolete.

If I had my way, I'd end all wars and poverty. We should all be more aware of what's going on in the world around us and less ignorant.

I need to be allowed to make my own decisions and mistakes, take leaps - and fall - without receiving too much help, because it's what I'll be doing for the rest of my life.

My parents homeschooled my sister and me for many years. Why? Because the local school insisted that I, being three, should go to preschool, and my sister, being five, should go to kindergarten. The problem? You learn your alphabet in preschool, and I was already reading chapter books.

There are lots of different interpretations of the word 'prodigy.' My own is of someone who is talented and tries to help other children. So in that respect I could be called one, although I don't think I'll go off the rails.

I would say that kids are great in many ways, because I think that we are less hampered when it comes to 'this costs too much' or 'that's impossible'.

Make sure that your kids or the kids in your life have an opportunity to share their ideas, and to teach you something about what we know.

Since the age of four, I've been exploring what I can do with the written word: everything from championing literacy and youth voice to raising awareness about world hunger.

Success on the front of women's rights will look like a world not only with obvious advances - where no girl is denied access to education, for instance - but also one with more subtle changes in how we regard gender and gender stereotypes.

Mostly, I avoid worrying since the time spent doing it could be spent more constructively.

I was thrilled to be able to read at three. I just thought everyone loved reading as much as I did.

I realise I'm still a child, though I do feel older.

Like probably a lot of people, I came away from watching films like 'Miss Representation' and 'Half the Sky' with the realization that the battle for women's rights is not over, especially not globally, and that the moral imperative of our century is to achieve full rights for everyone regardless of gender.

For kids like me, being called childish can be a frequent occurrence. Every time we make irrational demands, exhibit irresponsible behavior, or display any other signs of being normal American citizens, we are called childish.

I realise I'm still a child, though I do feel older. I recently did an on-line test called 'What's Your True Age?' My result was 50-60 years old.

A lot of negative words adults call the young, like 'naive,' 'impulsive' and 'way too connected online,' are all things we can turn into strengths to help us.

The idea there were kids out there who didn't love to read and write just as much as I did struck me. So I went around schools and tried to make other kids love to read and write.

I wouldn't call myself a geek, but I do sometimes teach Mommy and Daddy stuff about computers. And I do watch TV, but only informative programmes like the news and documentaries.

As children, we have a tenuous idea of love; we often try to quantify it with how much we feel seen and heard.

The point of my work is to make it clear that all youth can make 'big miracles' happen.