It's no shocker that the world is in such a sad state. Just turn on the nightly news and you will see more bad news than good. And what's worse is that it is children who suffer the most.
The big picture
Catherine Nebauer, Nickelodeon Asia Senior Vice President and General Manager, gives an overview of the situation: "Take poverty, for instance. Poverty doesn't just mean having no money in your pockets. It also means going without doctors, medicines, education, or even clean water to drink. One of the biggest killers is hunger. [About] 34,000 children under five years of age die from hunger and sickness every single day. Hunger is caused largely by poverty. If governments from poor countries had more money and they spent it on things like food, education, and health, it would make a huge difference."
And most of the world leaders understand their role. In 2002, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched the Millennium Project where 189 heads of state promised to make the world a better place for everyone by the year 2015 via certain Development Goals such as reducing poverty, hunger, and child mortality. The aim of the Millennium Campaign is to highlight all these issues and get citizens to hold their governments accountable to the promise.
"The premise is simple," Nebauer explains. "We are the first generation that can put an end to extreme poverty around the world, and we refuse to miss this opportunity."
Kid campaign
Kid channel Nickelodeon then launched a campaign that is anchored on pure kid power-Nick 2015. "Through Nick 2015, we want to help kids understand these goals and why it's important that we help make our leaders keep their promise. In 2015, a good portion of the kids we're addressing will be the adults, so it's their world that we want to make a better place."
Through this campaign, the station airs short animated messages on its worldwide channels, explaining the goals of the Millennium Campaign in a way that kids can understand, and they are encouraged to sign petitions online at www.nick2015.com. Kids from Asia can also submit artwork and essays for the Hear My Voice contest. Winners will get the chance to have their work displayed at the UN office, and all works by Asian kids will be displayed on www.nicksplat.com.
No shields, please
But are kids ready for reality? Ma. Rochelle Buenavista-Pacifico, developmental and behavioral pediatrician at the De La Salle University Medical Center in Dasmariñas, Cavite, and mom to two kids, says that parents shouldn't shield their kids. "Gone are the days when the adults are talking and the kids have to leave the room. You have to show the world as it is, because you have to be honest. You want to tell them that life is not a bed of roses."
Poverty and hunger are not such big words for kids after all, says Nebauer. "For a large number of children, these are very real issues which they face on a daily basis. Sure they may not initially understand the entire scope of these problems, but children are very smart and understand these issues more than we think they do," she explains.
"There are parents who are overprotective of their children, but then these kids do not learn how to cope with the world outside," Pacifico adds. "Tell him what is happening, tell him why it is happening, and ask him for his opinion. When he does give his ideas, don't laugh. You have to show him that he can do it. And above all, don't shut him up," she advises.
Click here to learn more about screening sources and hope for the future.
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Read on to learn more about screening sources and hope for the future.
Screening sources
Information today can be easily obtained with a few computer keystrokes or by flicking on the TV. But Pacifico says that for kids, the family is still the best news source. "For one thing, kids aren't really interested in watching the news, and the programs can be so graphic and visual. Kids have good imaginations, so watching the news on TV can even give them bad dreams," she warns.
Instead, she suggests making mealtime a forum for roundtable discussion. "I don't advise families to have the TV on during dinner. That is the time for sharing information and opinions. Kids may not want to listen to stuff that they cannot understand, but you still have to teach." TV and the Internet can be good sources of information, but you have to supervise them, she adds.
Hope for the future
"You cannot keep talking to your child about the ills of society and then you do not do anything about it," says Pacifico. "If you talk and talk about the basura outside, but then throw candy wrappers outside your car window, then you are definitely not sending the right message," she adds.
Then, tell the child what concrete steps you are doing now to help ease the situation. "You can say 'that is why we are teaching you to turn off the air-con, so we can save on electricity. What else do you think we can do?'" Pacifico suggests.
And last but not the least, Pacifico advises: end your discussions with a hopeful note. "If you don't, it's like telling them, 'you are doomed!'" she warns. "They will start thinking now, 'what will happen if mommy and daddy die?' and they will become scared of the future."
To be hopeful, she suggests that you strike a balance. "Do not just tell them all the bad news, balance it with some good news as well."
If the kids today grow up empowered, Pacifico says they will become adults who are able to empathize and are more analytical. They will not just follow and follow what is instructed of them, but are able to look at the bigger picture and see the consequences of their actions.
Click here to learn more about empowering your child by stages and about millenium development goals.
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Read on to learn more about empowering your child by stages and about millenium development goals.
Empowering by stages
To get your kids moving, here are good age-by-age empowering moves you can practice, from developmental and behavioral pediatrician Ma. Rochelle Buenavista-Pacifico.
Infant: At this stage, of course they are not really interested with what is going out on in the world. His interest lies more in what he can do to the things around him. Empower him by giving him simple, everyday toys that he can manipulate. You can start introducing him to the world, though, by talking to him about the family.
Toddler: Since your child is becoming more mobile, start by giving him materials to help him move about or ambulate. This is the stage where most parents are scared na baka madapa yung bata, so they watch over him like a hawk. As a parent, you have good intentions, but you might be robbing him of the experience of exploring his surroundings and further developing. By being overprotective, you are taking away his empowerment.
Preschooler: This is the time for tantrums. Hence, this is also the time to teach him that he cannot get everything that he wants. This is also the black-or-white stage, where if mommy or teacher says that something is bad, then he believes that it is bad. This is the time to start teaching him about the world, although he may not get it yet, and his concepts will still be mababaw.
Grade-school age: This is when he will start to analyze things. He will not only notice, for example that he is riding a car while the other child is selling sampaguita outside. He will ask questions like "where are her parents?" At ages six to eight, the child will learn how to handle difficult tasks and to problem-solve. He can now make suggestions on how he can help.
Aim high!
The Millennium Development Goals are to
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Ensure all kids - both boys and girls - complete primary school
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce the mortality rate of children under five
- Reduce by 75% the ratio of women dying in childbirth
- Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development
Photography by Tootoots Leyesa
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