I love the idea of respecting children.

They Are (Smart), and They Can (Hear)by John Fischer
In a comment about her work with children through her church, one of our readers commented, “I have found some wonderful new friends, some my age, and some that are four years old.”
I love that. I've had it floating around in my idea file for a while and find I keep coming back to it. I think I like it because of the dignity it gives both friendship and children.
We can be so quick to pass off children as being too young and immature to contribute on an adult level. “Children are to be seen and not heard,” is still a part of the American conscience. Although the cultural climate towards children has changed drastically in my lifetime, there are still evidences of how we look down on them. The “children's table” is still a popular holiday setting when the extended family gathers (as if they have nothing to contribute to the adults), and then there is “children's church” where the pastor speaks in a different voice and tone than when he preaches later to the congregation. (Just once I'd love to hear one of those kids blurt out, “Why are you talking so funny?”)
To have an adult say, “I've found some wonderful new friends… and some of them are four years old,” says something to me. It says that there are some ways in which she sees a four-year-old as a peer. Friendship is all about giving and receiving, and the minute we start to look for what children can teach us, not just what we are trying to teach them, we will be rewarded.
Here is, I think, a good general assumption to go by, and it goes not only for children but for seniors, Alzheimer's and coma patients, the mentally handicapped, and anyone we have a tendency to think isn't very smart or can't hear us: they are (smart), and they can (hear). Our six-year-old is slow in language for his age, but there is no question his mind is as sharp as a tack and he doesn't miss a trick. In other words, expect there to be more understanding than you think there is, and nine out of ten times you will be right. (Come to think of it, this probably goes for anyone.)
And finally, treat everyone as an equal. That's how the woman who inspired these thoughts sees the four-year-olds she is working with. If we don't do this, we miss out. And we miss out not only on the richness of what we can receive, but according to Jesus, we miss out on the kingdom of God.
"Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all" (Luke 18:16-17).