Otherwise Maladroit

13 March 1998 A Reaction Paper on "The Lost Children" an Article in Asiaweek Magazine

13 March 1998

A Reaction Paper on "The Lost Children" an Article in Asiaweek Magazine

Children are the face of innocence. Cherubs, depicted as plump, curly-haired children with immaculate wings are so commonplace they are symbols as familiar as the cross, the crescent, or the Star of David. Come every Christmas, products exploit the image of childlike wonder and joy in countless commercials, even after the holidays. It is said that the hope and future of a nation are in its youth. As someone was quoted professing, "The training of children is a preparation for the gravest and most important relations of life, and upon the character of our home life must rest the well being of our nation, and the permanence of all our institutions."

I am particularly appalled by child prostitution and abuse, because it is the most amoral I can conceive. What could be more repugnant than violating a trusting innocent, denying him of his place and potential in the world? The salvation of civilization is insured by the well-being of the following generations, and that lifeline is being severed.

The problem is rooted in the disintegration of family, and the devaluation of its importance. Everything is so fast these days, that family time is hardly any time. Parents leave their kids to be brought up by television, movies, and the rest of mass media. There is a lot of violence, prejudice, and perversion in the environment, and mass media graphically glorifies these. Society today is a factory for criminals and deviants. Mass media is more terrifying than that. It is the harbinger of wrong values, predominant everywhere. It teaches us that life is cheap enough to exchange for a few paltry pieces of luxury.

Poverty aggravates the already horrifying situation, because of it the supply for the thrills of perverts is never quenched. Millions of indigents need to survive, and they do so by any which way they can. It takes a cold-hearted person to survive in impoverished conditions, so many have turned to stone. Kids are dispensable, if they are in the way of a comfortable life. Kids are easily easily sold, if they are the key to a comfortable life.

posted by Otherwise Maladroit @ 5:10 PM