So close, so far
So close, so far... neglected“ “Child”: means a boy or a girl apparently or effectively aged less than eighteen years” (Van Stolk 146).
“Rich kids, middle-class kids, poor kids - all deal with risk and neglect on a scale unimagined in previous generations” (Hewitt 11). There are problems of poverty, absentee parents, divorce, violence and drugs, plus much more that is simply out of hand. Deprivation and rejection dominate the lives of many children, among both poor and middle-class.
We cannot ensure the safety of children on the streets or in our homes. On the educational front, the news is even more disturbing, since underachievement and failure are now very popular.
Something else that contributes to child neglect is a fast rate of family breakdown. This is an effect of divorce and rapid increase in single parent pregnancies. Couples marrying today face an even higher chance of divorcing at some point during their lives together. “A family’s deterioration can come about in ways other than separation” (Wilson 50). Staying together, in certain conditions and situations may increase further economical or psychological problems that may affect the child. Social attitudes today are scarcely more tolerant. “With the ratio of one divorce in four marriages moving towards one in three, we have been forced to look beyond those unexamined assumptions to asses realistically the changing role and changing needs of the family in Canadian society” (Canadian Council 28).
For women, and their children, divorce can often put severe economic hardships on them. Another part of family breakdown can occur when the absence of a male presence or male support to single mother families. “In the years following divorce living standards for ex-wives drop by an average of 30 percent while those for men rise an 8 percent” (Hewitt 41). Although babies from teenage girls have declined, the unmarried single parent teenagers who have children have risen rapidly. “There are now close to half a million live births to unwed teenagers every year” (Hewitt 41).
The children in our society are defined by their dependent status. “From birth, to early adulthood, children must look to others to provide the adequate and dependable economic support required to meet their needs” (Canadian Council 21). Even in early childhood, they cannot support themselves and even if they could, our society does not approve of child labour.
“Any study of the status of children as citizens in our society must devolve to a significant extent from an examination of the economic support system which provides them with the basic opportunity to enjoy the full rights and freedoms of citizens” (Canadian Council 21).
Since the basic foundation is that the family is and should be the social group responsible for the care and support of dependent youths, the argument of the relationship between the child and the economy of our society must first look at the...
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