Happy Children’s Day! - food for thought

Happy Children’s Day!

What good times we had as children. We weren’t worried about how to make a living by ourselves. We had fun playing with toys, we had people holding us by the hand, guiding us and teaching us principles of life and morals. Our parents and teachers cared, protected and taught us right from wrong. They provided us with all the living necessities, food on the table, clothes, a warm home and access to proper education. They were our idols that we learned from and to whom we were looking up to be like when growing up.

So had many dreams. We were playing with our dolls or cars imagining ourselves as doctors, astronauts, scientists, policemen, firefighters, professors, and so on.

Did we all really had this? Do all the children receive the same treatment? Did we all had a happy childhood? No, most children don’t. Not all of us are that lucky. 

The discrepancies in the society and worldwide economy, differences between cultures and ways of life continue to have an important influence on the individual from birth till death. Sometimes the destiny of one child’s is decided at birth. Daily children die of malnutrition and disease in the poor countries of the world. Many don’t get to go to school or have access to proper health care or even shelter. Sometimes poverty forces them to work so they can provide for their families in case they still have one and was not killed in a war. In other countries where traditions still rule over reason girls are not allowed to receive education or they don’t have the same rights as boys do. Children nowadays are being abused as part of war tactics. Natural disasters threaten the normal development of a child through lack of food, shelter, medical assistance and disease. Another dangerous environment can also be that what children call home. Abuses occur in developed countries as well. Violence, rape, alcohol, drugs can destroy the future of a child if they are exposed to them. I would add to that list the lack of attention from parents, broken families, and exaggerated exposure to online and social media or even games.

The dangers posed to the safety of a child’s life continue to diversify as the society develops in one direction or another. It is the parent’s, the community’s, the society’s job to provide for the needs of children. Teach your children about the real world, educate them so they can differentiate right from wrong and to value what they have. Teach them how to play but also tolerance, how to care for one another and respect for human life. Protect your children and provide them with what they need so they can grow to be better and happier than you. They are our future and the future is in your hands.

 

If one is interested on the issues of the real world should take a look on the UN reports on children (http://www.unicef.org/). I would highly encourage you to donate for the children suffering from the Nepal earthquake. They need your help.