FOR THE LOVE OF OUR CHILDREN

I attended an extravagant birthday party recently. The celebrant was marking her first birthday. The party was everything a Cinderella party would be. The celebrant was oblivious of all the buzz. She was hardly settled enough to cut her own cake. When she could not be cajoled anymore, she broke out a cry and her mother took her inside.

Of course her party continued, along with all the merriment. A party the little child did not call for, neither organized, nor sent out any invitation.

Children are in the receiving end of many happenings which they contributed nothing at all to. Be it their parents affection, the care and concern of people around them, or the expenses being made on their behalf.

Some other times, they are on the receiving end of unfortunate events such as being caught in the middle of spite between their estranged parents, being cast in the shadow of the damaging reputation of their parents, harmful cultural practices,bad government policies, etc.

No child calls anything upon him/herself, but would be made to suffer the full burnt of the actions or decisions of people around them. Once a child is born, he/she is absorbed into an already existing system. A system with its own benefits, rewards, ills, and many other complexes. No degree of seclusion can shield a child from them all.

Children are one of the biggest casualties of war. There is hardly any child who does not have something to lose in war time. Schools are usually shut - down, costing them their education. Economic down turn, job loss, economic and political uncertainties, etc characterize economies of Nations in turmoil. This invariably cost most parents their means of livelihood, thus making it difficult to provide for their children. Children lose the presence of their fathers as most would be conscripted into the Army. Not to mention the insecurity of lives and properties. Children become victims of rape and other war crimes, internal displacement, hunger and disease that usually accompany wars.

In all, these events rip-off the innocence of children too soon and calcify the memories of the unfortunate events their have witnessed. Other events may not be as dire, gruesome or extreme as an outbreak of war. But still, they make the immediate environment an unfavourable place for our children and impinge negatively on them.

It's unfortunate that in these modern times, we still have harmful cultural practices that affect children, child labor does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon, and many children are out of school.

Our country losing the war on corruption means that children somewhere continue to miss out on opportunities for a better life because there are less opportunities for their parents to make a decent living.

Some children do not survive infancy because of an under - funded health care system, directly or indirectly as a result of corruption.

Unfortunately, children do not remain children forever, they grow up. Some grow up and become well - adjusted, some others begin to show signs of disturbance. The latter are the ones who live - out the negative effect of the complexes of the web in which they were spun.

An adage says 'one cannot isolate the grain of bean that will make him purge'. Sadly, we have lost our priorities,many vices have almost become norm in our society today. Name it, violence, drug abuse, sexual immortality, fraud, betrayal, corruption, gambling, etc. Virtues are left unrewarded and vices unpunished. No one knows the web of complexity his/her child could get caught in tomorrow. For their sakes, we should strive to set this right again.