The Rights of Every Child

1. TO BE BORN WITH A NAME AND NATIONALITY.

2. TO BE FREE

3. TO HAVE A FAMILY WHO CARES FOR ME.

4. TO HAVE ENOUGH EDUCATION IN ORDER TO ENHANCE MY ABILITY.

5. TO HAVE ENOUGH FOOD TO NOURISH MY BODY.

6. TO BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO ENJOY PLAYTIME .

7. TO BE PROTECTED FROM ANY HARMS, DANGERS & ALL SORTS OF ABUSES.

8. TO LIVE IN THE COMFORT OF ORDERLY AND PEACEFUL HOME.

9. TO BE PROTECTED AND BE HELPED BY THE GOVERNMENT.

10. TO HAVE THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND OPINION. *
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I read that list of "RIGHTS of EVERY FILIPINO CHILD" , and I thought, as a child I got one out of 10....

1. Yes, I was born and was given name and nationality.....

2. No freedom...

3. Yes, I had a family but couldn't care much under the circumstances...

4. Did not have a chance for a higher education I so deserved...

5. Hunger was my constant companion...

6. What playtime?..

7. Although I feel fortunate not to have experienced abuse like some unfortunate children have experienced, I definitely lived in constant fear...

8. No 'home' when I was a child..

9. No help from government..

10. I was seen but not heard....

And what I observed in the last five years going back and forth, the situation is the same (if not worse) as when I was a child more than 4 decades ago....except for the modern technology and the obvious influence of western lifestyle that in my opinion is slowly but surely ruining the environment....( but that's another topic )...

I wonder what the government and the church are doing to make sure that those rights of children are implemented?..... Is setting up charity organizations really the answer? ..... How do we protect children from emotional and physical abuse...How do we protect our children from sexual predators whom some are the very adults who are responsible for taking of care of the children? ...not to mention clergy men.....

These 'RIGHTS' are not for the Filipino children only but for all the CHILDREN of the WORLD....So why do so called intelligent adults pay respect to some political and religious figures who allow abuse and terrorism against children?.....

We are humans pro-creating innocent little humans. But, what does really being "human" mean?.....How does one attain human dignity ?... I have so many questions that make me constantly think of many possible answers... But opinions of adults lacking higher education in the system like myself does not count how much more that of the children's?..

If you are a parent, can you honestly say that... " yes, my children were given all those rights...all 10 of them on the list"?....I can..and proud that I made sure my children enjoyed all of the 10 "RIGHTS" listed above....no!..it wasn't the easiest... I found how enormous a mothers resposibilities to protect the children...and I fought with my life to protect them and their rights as human beings... I hope they will be blessed with wives who will work with them in protecting their children with their own lives...

CONGRATULATIONS to you if your children enjoyed or enjoying theirs...
And we can only hope that we the adults be given pure wisdom on how to care not only for our children but also for our neighbours' children....*hv*

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** We must treat our children and our neighbors' children as the beautiful extensions of our lives....If this is our belief system, their future will look brighter and brighter...If our priorities are the children, we will do our utmost to make sure that we leave this planet earth so much better than when we arrived in it....A beautiful home earth is the best inheritance that we can pass on to them **hv**