‘Child shows a man as morning shows the day’. However,
‘morning shows the day’ isnt true about most parts of Europe. They say, never
believe in 3 Ws, Work, Weather and Wife. It can change or run away anytime.
‘Child shows a man’ is however everywhere true. Childhood
directs most of us in which direction we go in the future. The way we were
raised, friends we had, the environment we grew up, the culture we saw and the
teachers who taught us determines how our future looks like. Teachers and parents role is the most
important. Many researches show that the children of Doctors are likely to be a
doctor as well, the children of Business men or industrialist have high
tendency to continue with the profession their parents had and the same for other
professions. High numbers of youths from an academic family are also most
likely to be an academic, which means that they’re most likely to get a
university degree. There are fewer number of university students whose parents
haven’t been to the University. This culture has changed recently in developed
world as everybody, nomatter which status they have, have an access to higher
education. The European Union has free education system that allows all
students to enter the University if they fulfill the requirements irrespective
of their income. However, Germany and Norway are among the few countries that
provide free education for all, regardless their nationality. This has given a
chance for everybody to rise to middle or higher class. Good education policy
that gives everybody an equal opportunity is the best justice system.
Let us talk directly about the situation of children in so
called developing countries. It is a scandal that governments and its people
are complaining about their poor economic situation but doing less to build the
future of children. Future of country lies on the future on children. This
includes not only the spendings on education, but also on Vocational Trainings,
Sports, Healthcare etc. Only spending more also won’t help because it should be
efficient and intelligent. UNDP’s Human Development Indicators figure shows
that Sudan spends over 25% of its GDP on education, which is the highest and
Cuba and Djibouti spend respectively 13.6 and 8.4%. All three are among the
poorest countries of the world. Despite higher education budget, situations
arent getting better. Developed Countries’
don’t even make the top ten among the big spenders on education. It is Denmark
which is on 16th place spending 7.8% of its GDP for education that
comes first among rich world. Finland, which tops the best schooling system in
the world lies at 39th place with 5.9%. The US lies on 55th
place and Germany on 95th. So, ‘how much’ spending is of less
relevance, ‘how to’ is what matters.
Schools should be made like a home where there should be
somebody to care the children other than educational stuffs. A psychologist is
desperately necessary in schools to monitor the mental situations. Childrens
are vulnerable. Their minds are prone to negative feelings. Mobbings, conflicts
in family, conflicts with friends or someone they love can leave a permanent
dove on their mind. There should be initiatives that prevent such happenings
but also professional treatments so that it cannot have a long lasting effect
on childrens mind. It is not only a loss for the child and his family if a
child choose a wrong path, it is also a loss for the economy. Everybody can
contribute something but if he/she arent given a chance to use their full
potential, we might loose something that could have changed many things for
better.
I won’t go in details about how to create a better child.
There are many pedagogic methods and instruments to intervene in order to bring
the best out of a child. These scientific techniques are being used in many countries.There
are many examples and true facts how a good childhood could have avoided some
of the disasters we faced in the history of humans. There are some people who
have changed the world for better because they were raised to do better. There
are some who had tragic childhood who turned out to be the most terrible men in
the world.
Most of the mass murderers we know had a difficult
childhood. Saddham Hussein’s father died when his mother was pregnant. Though
she tried to commit a suicide, she was stopped by a Jewish family. She gave
Saddham to her brother who was a military officer. Saddham grew up in his
shadows and killed a person in the age of 10. Raised in a military atmosphere,
he showed no reservations to take lives. The same characteristics remained
until he was the most powerful man in country who then killed hundreds of
thousands of people through chemical weapons. Adolf Hitler had a complicated
childhood and youth years. His dreams werent fulfilled what he initially wanted
to become. Once he took power, the ingredients of hate that he slowely gained
throughout child and adulthood, he misused it to execute one of the most
terrible act in history. Joseph Stalin was physically abused by his father who
was an alcoholic. He along with his mother suffered a lot during those years. This
had an enormous impact in his character. Stalin killed millions of people
directly and indirectly.
So, these example shows that a complicated childhood can have
a huge impact in our life. Hence, it is necessary to take the issues of
children seriously. Other than investing in their education, we should make
sure that they grow up in an atmosphere of love and compassion. We should
monitor the social network website they use and what do they see in TV or
listen in the Radio. In developed countries, there are already limited TV shows
for children till a certain age. Parents are strict about what children see and
what they are doing. In developing world it is still a big issue. Childrens
arent barred from inappropriate actions. A child that has seen people shooting
each other with a pistol also wants to have a pistol as a toy. As an adult, he’ll
have no reservations killing people. This leads to a catastrophe.
Children are our future, future of our culture and society
and they will lead the world of tomorrow. It is time to decide in what kind of
world we want our children to live tomorrow. If we don’t want them to live in a
world of wars, conflicts, violence, hate and even genocides, it is time to
cultivate love, respect and compassion in them. I want to end this article by
some lines of Tibetan Wisdom
they learn to condemn it.
When children are attacked,
they learn to fight it.
When a children are ridiculed,
they learn to be shy.
When children are ashamed
they learn to feel guilty.
If children are understood and tolerated,
they learn to be patient.
If children are encouraged,
they learn to trust themselves.
If children are praised,
they learn to appreciate themselves.
If children are treated fairly,
they learn to be just.
If children live salvaged,
they learn to trust.
When children are recognized,
they learn it, to like themselves.
If children are accepted in friendship
it is believed
they learn to find love in the world.
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