Is poverty enough excuse for child abuse?
My mother told me she cannot
afford the school fees, schooling expenses and money for other learning
materials. This is the likely response one would get from the children that are
used as laborers at various sea shores. I ask myself, do these parents really
see the need for education? Is basic education really too much for them to
afford? Since education is the right of every child is lack of finance enough
excuse for the child’s rights to be infringed upon.
In the world today education
is undeniably the key to success and wellbeing. Upon carrying out many
interviews with children mostly child laborers at the shores these children
desire to be doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers, bankers, lawyers, and of
course president. These are a few among many relevant professions that they
tell me .May be I am not up to date on things happening in the world currently
but i have not heard of an uneducated fisherman that is also an aerospace
engineer, or may be a pharmacist. I wonder if any reader would allow any
illiterate fisherman to perform surgery or fly a plane. I will prefer walking
even if it may take me the rest of my life because i surely will not get to my
destination if i board that plane. The point i am trying to make is, these
children will never become what they dream of becoming if they continue as
child labourers.it is like they are building castles in the skies and may
probably end up just like their parents, poor, uneducated and with a sizable
number of non-schooling children. The cycle
then begins all over again, with many having shattered dreams.it is not
surprising that a father can tell his son to the face that, his grandfather did
not take him to school so if he really desires to go to school then he should
be prepared to work to pay for all the expenses. Surprisingly, parents
apparently tell their children to hide when their teachers come to their homes
to check up on kids that did not report to school. How ridiculous! This is even
much worse when it comes to the girl child but i would not like to delve deep
into that. The parents of these rather unfortunate children don’t realize the
harm they are causing their children since they are uneducated themselves. I am
always sad when most tell me they don’t know their age, and names, and how much
more the names of their parents who also most likely have no idea what theirs
are. The article seven of the UN convention on the rights of the child states
that all children have the right to a
legally registered name, and nationality. Also the right to know, and as
far as possible to be cared for by their parents. The article eight also states
that the government must respect children’s right to a name. I guess these
adorable children probably have no nationality or may be from another planet
then.
Article twenty eight also
states that children have the right to
education. Primary education should be free. Richer countries should help
poorer countries to ensure this. Luckily primary education is technically
free, but as to whether it’s really free is whole new story. Nonetheless, still
a lot of children are still working under hazardous conditions, staying at home
or being trafficked to other places and all of them have the same excuse my
mother cannot afford. Surprisingly, these same parents have enough to buy
alcohol, enough to buy new fabrics for every funeral, and enough to have fancy
funeral, marriage and naming ceremonies. Clearly from their own actions one can
say, education of their wards is not that important to them.one chief in some
rural town in Ghana once told me he will do everything to ensure his daughter
properly educated because even though he has a lot of farms and other
properties when he dies his extended family members may take them from his wife
and children but he they can never take away his daughters knowledge and
certificates. This happens to be a man that did not school much himself but
knew how important education was. This make me wonder are those parents that do
not send their children to school but force them to go out and work under
harmful conditions just wicked or ignorant. According to the institute of statistical,
social and economic research thus ISSER of the University of Ghana, forty six of adult Ghanaians are illustrates,
but also ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it.
furthermore, despite the
fifty per cent poverty reduction since the nineteen nineties, twenty five per cent of Ghanaians are
still living in poverty and twenty four per cent of children are engaged in the
worst forms of child labour.no matter how hard one may try, it seems
impossible to neglect the fact that there are some parents that genuinely
cannot afford to take their wards to school but wish they could. The question
then comes in what do these parents do. Before i attempt to answer this
question, I state that education is priority and a right of every child hence
backed by law. Also according to article thirty two of the UN convention on the
rights of the child the government must
protect children from work that is dangerous or that might harm their health or
education. With these statements in mind, now i come to the question above.
There is an African proverb that states that all the fingers are not the same, meaning
we all different thus in terms of race, religion, abilities, wealth, ideology,
and family systems. I acknowledge the fact that some families find difficult to
even provide food for their children but children are a gifts to families and
as vulnerable as they are should not be made to suffer because of the status of
their parents. Parents should do their best to seek for support from all
sources available in order to finance their children’s education. Some
suggestions family members, community based agencies and organizations, credit
unions, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations. Even
though i agree that it may be hard getting support from these sources, I think
that just parents would go the extra mile to seek for financial support when a
family member dies in order to have a befitting funeral for the person they can
do the same to educate children. Furthermore, I happen to have come across and
know a number of organizations that are dedicated to supporting children such
as cheerful hearts foundation and many others that they can get support from. Parents
should also consider the dangers they expose their children to by making them
work at stone quarries, going to sea, mining, child prostitution, etc. A story
told of twelve
year old in nyanyano lets call him kweku. kweku while at sea fishing
with men old enough to be his father, was asked to dive into the water and
release the nets that seem to be stuck. kweku agreed and dived in but upon
reaching the sea bed could not release the nets so swam back to the surface but
these heartless men forced kweku to dive back through their usual physical and
verbal abuse. But kweku unfortunately did not return again and when another boy
was sent he saw kweku laid on the floor of the ocean, dead. Who knows kweku
probably also desired to be a doctor, pilot or lawyer but his parents thought
it wise to send him with fishermen to go and fish because struggled
financially. What saddens my heart the most is now that kweku is dead; his
family will receive a lot of support to hold a fancy burial. Where were they
when kweku needed a few Ghana cedi to buy an exercise book and cater for other
minor expenses? There goes another professional killed because poverty was
given as an excuse. His parents may be thought by him working he can also
contribute something small to support the family but not considering or
comparing to his worth if and only if he had gone to school. Some parents are
unaware while others just don’t care about the fact these children are
subjected to all types of abuse such as physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual
abuse and the most common form, neglect. A social work student wrote of the
university of Ghana wrote on her blog
CHILD LABOUR IS AS HIV/AIDS
We are all at risk and need to get tested and know our
status before
Becoming parents.
The future of the child is ruined when parents do not
realize that they
Have a responsibility to take care of us.
They use the child as a money making instrument by
imposing hard
Work on them and also traffic them to get more money.
Parents should all be tested to find out if they are
capable of taking
Good care of the children they produce. www.zamleyadams.blogspot.com.even though i agree
with her , actually don’t know how that would be possible.
Shockingly, these children
are paid very little or nothing at all for the hazardous work they do. Averagely
the highest they receive is two Ghana cedi and some of them have to sell for
example the fish they get from going to sea as their income. If truly these vulnerable
children are being needlessly abused because of poverty then it is clearly
pointless because poverty is never going to be eradicated this way. Child abuse
should never be an option because of poverty. Imagine what would happen to a
country if all its children are abused and made to work in these hazardous
places. The end result will be a future generation of uneducated adults and
leaders. May be you don’t care because they are not your children, family
members, race, religious group, or country? But remember these children are the
same people that become the armed robbers, fraudsters, prostitutes, terrorists,
rapists, or all kinds of social vices. And trust me; they directly or
indirectly affect us. May be you are thinking it is the responsibility of the
governments to ensure that children in their respective countries are not
abused. Very true, but should we the people not also think and act to make life
better. I have realize that every time an issue of child abuse arises, the
common response is ,suggestions on what the government and other organizations
should do ,or what their parents should have done or should be doing. There is
rarely any suggestion on how we can come together and think the problem out.no
suggestions on how we can come together to help the victims and their families
and insist that the rules and regulations about child abuse are enforced and
relevantly help enforce them. Start by doing what is necessary, then what is
possible and before long you will be doing what is impossible.
We’re not to blame others for how it
started.
But we’re the ones to end it! Where we
live may be far away
But we all are still connected!
When you laugh somebody’s crying;
While you live somebody’s dying.
See, a little girl or boy is harmed,
So won’t you hold them in your arms?
When we all see humanity,
That’s when we will all live in harmony.
Can you imagine? Come on let's see...
All around the world-LET IT BE!
Everybody lending a hand.
Already know that together we can!
Just imagine love running free...
All around the world LET IT BE!
If we take what we have and share it-
Those of us, who can spare it,
Take a little and give it away,
So many lives hang in the balance.
So go beyond the way you’re feeling;
You know the road to hope is giving!
Let tomorrow measure today. (Mary Mary).
