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What happens when we slow down long enough to actually listen to children?

In this episode of The Advocate Podcast, Dr. Kristi Love unpacks a powerful social media post that sparked strong reactions and uses it as an entry point into a deeper conversation about communication, authority, and emotional development.

Allowing children to explain themselves is often misunderstood as permissiveness or loss of control. Dr. Love challenges that narrative, clarifying that letting a child speak does not mean removing boundaries, surrendering authority, or excusing behavior. It means teaching a skill.

Drawing from lived experience, generational context, and school-based realities, this episode explores:

• Why many adults struggle to let children explain themselves
• How fear-based parenting and survival strategies show up as silence
• The difference between validation and agreement
• Why assuming children are lying shuts down honest communication
• How lack of voice at home often leads to discipline issues at school
• Why adult accountability, including apologizing when we’re wrong, models integrity and trust

This episode is especially for parents, educators, and school leaders who want to raise and teach children who can advocate for themselves without aggression, speak without fear, and disagree with respect.

Because advocacy isn’t about being loud. It’s about being intentional.

🎧 Listen, reflect, and join the conversation.

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To submit a question or join my mailing list, use the information below.

• Facebook Group: TheAdvocate
• Instagram: @TheAdvocateDr.Love
• Email: Dr.Love.TheAdvocate@gmail.com

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In this episode, we confront a hard truth in education: what happens when discipline becomes a substitute for development. Too often, students, especially those from historically marginalized communities, are punished for behaviors that are actually cries for support, understanding, and growth. We unpack how zero-tolerance policies, exclusionary practices, and adult-centered control can derail academic progress and damage students’ sense of belonging.

Through real-world insights and a culturally responsive lens, this episode challenges educators, school leaders, and families to rethink behavior—not as defiance to be managed, but as communication to be understood. We explore what it looks like to shift from punishment to purpose, from control to connection, and from compliance to care. If we truly want to develop whole children, we must ask: Are our discipline practices helping students grow, or simply pushing them out?

Connect With Me

To submit a question or join my mailing list, use the information below.

• Facebook Group: TheAdvocate
• Instagram: @TheAdvocateDr.Love
• Email: Dr.Love.TheAdvocate@gmail.com

Send us a text

In this foundational episode, Dr. Kristi N. Love, educator, advocate, and mother of 2 , shares the personal and professional experiences that led her to create The Advocate Podcast. Drawing from over 20 years of teaching and leading across diverse school settings, she reflects on the mindset shift that transformed how she understands children, discipline, and advocacy. Her dual lens as both an educator and a parent offers insight into how families can navigate school systems and advocate effectively for their children.

This episode explores how misaligned expectations, punitive discipline, and inequitable systems impact children, families, and educators, and why advocacy must always center child development, culture, and humanity.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Why Dr. Love nearly left the education profession—and what helped her stay
• The critical mindset shift
• How culturally responsive teaching, trauma-informed practices, and SEL transformed her perspective
• What effective leadership, accountability, and support look like in schools
• How inequitable systems show up for families, especially during moments of crisis
• Why The Advocate is a space for parents, educators, and leaders seeking clarity, reflection, and change

This episode is not about blame. It’s about responsibility.

Whether you’re a parent navigating school systems, an educator feeling overwhelmed, or a leader committed to growth, this conversation sets the foundation for understanding what advocacy truly means.

Connect With Me

To submit a question or join my mailing list, use the information below.

• Facebook Group: TheAdvocate
• Instagram: @TheAdvocateDr.Love
• Email: Dr.Love.TheAdvocate@gmail.com