Dr. O’Brien’s Message to Former Children (yes, you)

If you are reading this and you are over the age of eighteen, congratulations – you are a former child! Even though you’ve traded in your composition notebooks for an overbooked Outlook calendar, I need you to care about kids.

Why? Because even though your childhood is over, America’s kids are in the trenches. Parents know this, teachers, know this, and pediatricians know this, and we need to make sure you are kept up-to-date too. The reality is, public policy around issues like school lunch programs and pediatric healthcare funding ripple outward, they shape everything from the stability of our economy to the health of our democracy to the future of our planet – let me lay out some evidence.

Right now Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) are on the chopping block for many prominent members of the newly elected 119th Congress, led by the GOP. Let’s be clear: Any cut to Medicaid is a direct cut to the largest insurer of children’s health in our nation. More than half of all children in the United States rely on Medicaid for healthcare coverage so they can obtain primary care and urgent visits for when they are sick or injured. At the same time, an even bigger coalition in the GOP wants to cut SNAP, which feeds more than 14,000,000 American children every year.

Kids are also facing unprecedented challenges due to the climate crisis, which is here and only getting worse. As air quality declines and temperatures rise, we are seeing immediate detrimental impacts on kids with asthma, which impacts almost 1 in 10 kids, as well as heat stroke. While UNICEF estimates over 1 billion children worldwide are at risk due to climate change (think: famine, hurricanes, wildfires, zoonotic diseases), American kids are not an exception, and their health, homes, and education will all be impacted.

And finally I would be a neglectful pediatrician if I failed to mention the #1 cause of death in American children: Firearm injuries. Guns. Yes, guns result in more pediatric deaths than car accidents, than cancer, than drowning. This is not inevitable and it is definitely not acceptable, instead it is a policy choice that has been solidified by decades of unchecked influence by the NRA and the gun lobby. Their reign must come to an end so we can enact meaningful gun safety reform like universal background checks, safe storage programs, and a revived assault weapons ban… because every child deserves to be safe at home, at school, and in their community.

These are uphill battles right now, and kids in our country lack real political power. They can’t vote. They can’t propose legislation. They rely on us – their pediatricians, parents, teachers, neighbors, and elected officials to show up for them.

They are relying on YOU.

They are relying on you to think about them every time you cast a ballot, whether that is for POTUS or for your local school board. Every time you research a candidate, ask yourself: Is this candidate putting kids first? Are they fighting for kids’ health, education, safety, and a livable planet?

Simultaneously, we have to keep the conversation going in our daily lives. We need to keep talking about kids’ issues with our families, our friends, and our colleagues. We need to share stories and raise our voices.

And if you are looking for a place to start, I hope you’ll join Dr. Annie Andrews and myself on a new venture called Don’t Tread On Kids, a podcast and Substack that will focus on the biggest political challenges facing children today, highlighting real solutions, and sharing stories from the frontlines of both pediatric healthcare and advocacy.

When we fight for kids, we’re fighting for a better, brighter future.

Let’s get to work.