Menu

Proyecto Visión 21

We live in a world of children-adults and adult-children

Last week The Sun, a newspaper in England, published on its cover the story of a 13-year old boy who, with his 15-year old girlfriend, had child and proudly posed for the cameras with the newborn baby in their arms.

A reporter asked the young father and his girlfriend if they already had made plans “financially” to support the baby. The young father candidly replied he did not know what “financially” meant.

It is obvious that the child-father ignores many things, and not only the meaning of certain words. I am sure he ignores that bringing a child to this word implies certain responsibilities and generates a feeling of uneasiness that will never go away.

The child-father probably also ignores that on the same cover of the same newspaper where his picture appears there were two other “related” stories. The first one was about a well-known young and attractive British actress who now that she is having a child decided to married the father, a very famous British actor.

The second story on that cover is, from my perspective, even more telling and more problematic. It was the story about a new videogame that openly promotes violence against women. The details about the images in this videogame are so despicable that not even The Sun -known for its racy images and stories- decided to publish.

In other words, the British child-father probably ignores the social context that led him to become a father and the cultural reasons that caused his situation.

When immorality becomes newsworthy and is on the cover of the newspapers, and when immorality is presented as something acceptable, that decision affects not only those who embrace such a behavior, but also those underage and even, as in this case, newborn babies.

It should be obvious I am not advocating turning back the clock of history to go back to any previous time, a common accusation against those who still believe in so-called “traditional values.” Those times are gone and they are not coming back.

At the same time, it should be obvious it is not acceptable to live in a world so obsessed (and rightly so, by the way) with unavoidable and almost unsolvable economic, ecological, and violence issues that we neglect to care for those who are the future of our world.

We are neglecting them, leaving them without a compass and a purpose for their lives on this planet.

Just in case somebody thinks the example mentioned above is something happening only in England, let me say we have the same problems in America. In fact, in the United States there are more than 100,000 children left alone in this country because the parents were deported. And even in Utah, the most conservative state of the country, teen pregnancy is becoming a problem. There are many more examples we could share.

It is time to stop being adults acting as children to become adults acting as adults, assuming all the responsibilities we need to assume.

Go Back

Comment

Blog Search

Blog Archive

Comments

There are currently no blog comments.