Are the children safe?

 

Has it ever been a good time to be a kid? Television ads and fairy tales aside, I don't think so. In some cultures, children have been used as human sacrifices, play things, and cheap, cheap labour. Children have also come to be seen as a burden, not a blessing, unless they have developed the art of begging and robbing, in order to supplement the meagre income of their parents.

We see children who are an endless supply of soldiers – against their will and their hopes, I may add. I don't think I would be speculating when I speak of about the sexual exploitation of girls in Thailand and the military exploitation of children in Iraq, just for starters. And a dash into history, say, to Victoria-era England would present us with shocking child labour injustices; if you are in doubt, read some pertinent novels by Charles Dickens on the matter.

And it's not like this is new information. The only thing new is a fresh supply of bodies, as children have a habit of getting old and useless very quickly.

In a brief moment of ignorance, I like to think that perhaps children in North America (excluding Mexico, for this argument) have it good. I say that when I see the schools for learning, the stores for shopping – to say nothing of playgrounds, restaurants, and weekends. I am also thinking happy thoughts when I read the instruction on many items that bear that glorious message: "Keep out of the reach of children."

Ah, I have said to myself many times, isn't it great that we protect our children from things that will harm them! Someone's looking out for them, I remind myself.

That naive notion was once again shot down, however, when I sat in front of a television the other day, taking in for a passing moment all the vile information that any child at any age and any time has access to. It was enough to offend me, but I had enough self-control to keep on flicking. For the most part, most normal children or teenagers wouldn't and don't possess that sort of discipline – much to their emotional harm.

Where, I wondered to myself, was that wonderful warning, "Keep out of the reach of children"? Sometimes you may see it as a caveat at the start of some raunchy show, possibly as a conscience check for the producer. That's my clue for keep moving on.

Whether it is enticing ads, mindless sit-coms, or some of the more popular sleazy excuses for entertainment, an uncensored television is as dangerous to the soul as a vial of poison is to the body. With parents not around or watching their own television set somewhere else in the house, it's no wonder that far too much of a child's worldview comes from what has been known as an "idiot box."

Like Internet, radio, and books, there is much good that a television can be used for. It is the uncontrolled Internet, radio, library - and I may add computer, along with television - that I have issues with.

No parent in their right mind would feed arsenic to their baby. No parent with a flicker of basic responsibility would allow things in their home to harm their child. However, for some reason, it is not long after the baby becomes a toddler and the toddler becomes a child that the rules get re-worked. Suddenly, wise and cautious restraint gives way to (so-called) freedom of choice.

And we North Americans are blatant hypocrites when we are appalled, on the one hand, at the lax child labour laws in China and Pakistan and the cruel sexist laws in Saudi Arabia and Thailand, yet guilty of shortcomings over here, on the other hand. And notice that I haven't even discussed abortion as part of the overall mistreatment of our kids.

But whether it is the womb, the home, the school, or even the church, we need to be creating safe and healthy environments for our children – whether they are things we add or things we take away. That is the parents' responsibility, not the state - or any other institution, for that matter.

We should be disgusted with the varied injustices foisted upon children of the world. Maybe, as point of sincere consistency and foresight, we should tackle our homes first. Personally, I believe that if we have stronger homes here, it will impact families over there.