The Ms. Foundation for Women is celebrating its 15th anniversary of “Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day.” Created to encourage parents, educators, and mentors to offer an enriching educational experience to children, this year’s theme is “Revolutionizing the Workplace.” The Ms. Foundation for Women explains that the initiative is “designed to expand opportunities for girls and boys, expose them to what adults in their lives do during the work day, show them the value of their education, and give them an opportunity to share how they envision their future.”
The Foundation encourages participants to use the theme as a guide for the Day, offering a score of educational opportunities—from icebreakers to problem-solving activities that engage kids to think about their futures. Suggestions include having the Advertising/Marketing department hold a workshop demonstrating how advertising brings in revenue, and having the kids create their own ads. Human Resources can prepare mock interviews for participating kids, or stay-at-home parents can switch kids with other couples for the day, and show the child all the skills necessary to manage a household, i.e., bookkeeping, food shopping, taking care of younger siblings, and laundry. For a complete guide of curriculum ideas, participants can browse through the Activity Center.
In conjunction with this day, The Ms. Foundation is placing a call to action to Americans nationwide, inviting them to participate in the Mobile Action Network. Here, all Americans are invited to text-message their response to the question, “Should all Americans have paid sick days?” The Healthy Families Act, which was recently introduced by Congress, aims to change the reality that over half of the nation’s workers in both the private and low-income sectors do not have paid sick days. The Act “seeks to ensure that all working Americans are able to address their own health needs and the health needs of their families by requiring employers to provide a minimum level of paid sick leave including leave for family care,” according to the Ms. Foundation for Women.
On April 26th, people all throughout the country will be sending in their answers via telephone to the Ms. Foundation, who will share these opinions with the media, policymakers, and organizations that work on family and worker rights issues. Participants will be notified of action steps to be taken to ensure everyone’s voices are heard in the future. Those who wish to participate and be heard can sign up in honor of “Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day,” and will be texted a specific action to help all Americans get paid sick days.
More on the paid sick days initiative: “Unpaid Sick Days: Who Really Pays?”
Read about participating Fortune 500 companies: “Should All American’s Have Paid Sick Days?”
Read about the beginning of Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day: “In the Beginning, it was Take Our Daughters”
