" The way to train up a child, in a way that he should go, is to travel that way first yourself "---ABRAHAM LINCOLN

By Joel Savage

The global economic recession, which has affected Third World countries most, has resulted in the rampant abandoning of babies in gutters, pit latrines, bushes and remote places. This inhuman act of the mothers of these babies, show that some children are born into incapable hands.

If one does not really need children, why should parents bring them into the world to suffer? Training and caring for children, in terms of feeding, clothing, education and health has never been a simple task. It is better for parents to prevent unwanted pregnancy, than to give birth to the child to become a menace to society.

An Eastern University in America, conducted a study on the impact made on children by various forces in the society. The study revealed that 31 percent of the influence on a child was attributed to his years, 16 percent came from his school and other organisations. While 53 percent of the impact on his life came from his home.

The duty of bringing up a child, is surely the toughest task in the world and quite frankly, it takes knowledge and wisdom to raise up a child. The inability of parents to take proper care of their children have caused many children roaming on the streets. The neglected children sometimes grow up to be juvenile criminals and delinquents. Each year, estimated one million children are abused in America. The sucide rate for 15 to 24, over the past twenty years.

Parents who did not get the opportunity to be educated, may feel education is a waste of time, and therefore the child should be engaged in parents trade. In India, hundreds of children are said to be under bondage, working as slaves to defray the debts of their parents. Under some hardships, children are even forced to sell part of their body parts, such as kidney, to raise money for their parents. In Brazil, children are sprayed by bullets, for the government to come and carry the dead youths from the street to reduce the chlid menace population. Is this a logical way to help a country to reduce street-child explosion?

When children are thought how to read from the initial stages, they become interested in books. However poor a child's reading ability is, his interest in reading would improve his knowledge. Things go wrong for children these days like people don't know their value in this world. The world must help together with the United Nations to alleviate them from slavery, poverty and oppression, for they are assets to national development.