{"id":3467,"date":"2025-06-01T06:19:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T06:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velkeholky.org\/?p=3467"},"modified":"2025-05-29T19:02:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T19:02:30","slug":"den-deti-proc-ho-slavime-a-jak-mu-dat-opravdovy-smysl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/velkeholky.org\/en\/den-deti-proc-ho-slavime-a-jak-mu-dat-opravdovy-smysl\/","title":{"rendered":"Children's Day: Why we celebrate it and how to give it real meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Children's Day is celebrated on June 1st - but why? Find out where this holiday comes from, what it means, and why we shouldn't just see it as a day of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bit of history with a smile<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dear ladies, do you still remember your childhood days? How were they celebrated back then? I remember the parades and maybe some performances. Fortunately, today it's about something different, much more fun! But one thing remains - Children's Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our smallest and most beloved, whether they are our children, who have grown up a bit, or our grandchildren!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know that the first initiative to establish a children's day originated in Turkey in 1920? The then defender of national rights, Mustafa Kemal, declared that children were an important part of building a new state. So imagine, they already knew back then that it simply couldn't be done without children! And the date of April 23 is still celebrated there as a national holiday to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did International Children's Day come about?<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A few years later, Children's Day was discussed at the World Conference for the Welfare of Children in Geneva, which symbolically set the date for the celebration as June 1. And although Children's Day was not officially declared right away, on the same day, June 1, 1925, the Dragon Boat Festival was held in San Francisco, where the Chinese Consul General gathered orphans to highlight the need for greater care for children. These two events essentially laid the foundation for our June celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in 1949, the International Democratic Federation of Women declared the Day for the Protection of Children. The reason was sad, the mass killings of women and children in Lidice and in Ouradour, France. The date of June 1 was established in memory of the orphans in San Francisco and the first conference on the welfare of children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN then declared Universal Children's Day in 1954.<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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And the goal was for every state to focus on its youngest residents once a year and support their healthy development and access to education. Even though the UN General Assembly recommended celebrating World Children's Day on November 20th (because the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of the Child were adopted on that day), we in the Czech Republic kept ours, June 1st.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And why not? We can celebrate all year round! Especially when we also have World Parents' Day on June 1st \u2013 so we have two in one, what more could you want?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in Czechoslovakia...<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the past, in Czechoslovakia, great emphasis was placed on the political significance of Children's Day. I remember how schools used to broadcast radio speeches and organize demonstrations. . After all, as Mr. Nov\u00e1k aptly noted in 1958 in his Osv\u011btov\u00e1 pr\u00e1ce: "When organizing Children's Days, we must realize that their purpose is primarily to have fun for children, and not for adults, who participate in this cultural event in surprising numbers." And I completely agree with that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is it celebrated elsewhere in the world?<\/strong><\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It's interesting how Children's Day is celebrated around the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n