CHILDREN THEATRE: GLOBAL CHALLENGES SURROUNDING THE 21ST CENTURY CHILD

INTRODUCTION

Children are adversely affected by global, socio-political, cultural and economic challenges which they do not have influence over. They are not anywhere the determinants on these issues, nonetheless, they are impacted by them. Because children are so vulnerable they are affected by so many things the adults take for granted.

In this assignment, we would be looking at these issues particularly so as to determine the extent of what challenges face the children of the 21^st Century.

GLOBAL ISSUES CHALLENGING CHILDREN

Lack of Access to Education: From the global perspective, millions of children all over the world do not have access to education. Many of these cannot go to school due to lack of funds. The consequence is that millions of children all over the world are illiterates.

Another problem aside lack of funds that contribute to the lack of access to education is location. In certain areas of the world, it is more difficult for children to go to school due to weather and atmospheric conditions that pervade the cities.

Another contributor is gender. The proportion of boys attending school is higher than that of girls globally.  This disparity is found in every nation worldwide. It is generally believed that girls are often discouraged from attending primary school especially in less developed countries for religious and cultural reasons.

Child Labour: According to the International Labour Organization, an estimated 211 million children between the ages of five and fourteen are working around the world to help and support their impoverished families.

These labours vary from hawking, petty trading to forced apprenticeship and full time jobs. Most times they are forced to take jobs they are too young for and are also coerced into working. The children can be used as payment or collateral on a debt by indebted parents and guardians.

In another hand, children are kidnapped or otherwise lured away from their families and imprisoned in sweatshops or brothels. Others work in unseen domestic services where they are given or sold at a very tender age to another family. These suppress their most basic rights such as freedom of movement and expression. They are subject to physical and verbal abuses, emotionally traumatizing scenarios and isolation.

Child Prostitution: There has been an estimate of up to a third of prostitutes as children less than eighteen years. The incidence of child prostitution is increasing and children under eighteen years make up between five and twenty percent of prostitutes depending on the geographical area. Every year, about 10,000 Nepalese girls, mostly between nine and sixteen years are sold to brothels in India. The girls, especially virgins are favoured in India because of their fair skin and young looks.

Trafficking and Slavery: Trafficking is the fastest growing means by which children are forced into slavery. It affects every continent and most countries. For example, children are trafficked from countries like Bangladesh to United Arab Emirates to be used as camel jockeys. Some children are abused by the traffickers and employers plus the fact that children in camel racing is extremely dangerous and can lead to serious injury or death. Their separation from their parents to a strange country leaves them at the mercy of their abusive employers.

According to UNICEF, over 200,000 children work as slaves in West and Central Africa. Boys are usually sold to work in cotton and cocoa plantations while girls are used as domestic servants and prostitutes.

Using Children in Military: Around the world, children are singled out for recruitment by both armed forces and armed opposition groups, and exploited as combatants. Children under the age of eighteen are taught to be fighting in conflicts around the world and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any time.

Easily manipulated, children are sometimes coerced to commit grave atrocities like rape, suicide bombing, murder and assault of citizens. Some are forced to injure or kill members of their own families or other child soldiers. Others serve as porters, cooks, guards, messengers, sex slaves and spies.

Child Neglect: Neglect is an act of omission or the absence of action. Child neglect usually involves infants and very young children who cannot speak for themselves. Child neglect behaviours include not keeping the child clean, not providing enough clothes for keeping warm, not making sure the child attended school, not caring if the child got into trouble in school, not helping with homework, not helping the child to do his best, not providing comfort when the child is upset, and not helping when the child has problems.

SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES CHALLENGING CHILDREN

The impact of political decisions and processes on children has been an abiding area of interest not only for children’s rights advocates but also for educators. Lawyers, philosophers, economists and political scientists have also addressed questions of child status in relation to the political world.

However, children are remarkable in mainstream political and societal theory mainly by their absence. Whether they participate actively in the society and politics and whether they understand it or not, children cannot escape the consequences. Decisions about planning and transport, the general distribution of public spending and decisions about more directly children-related matters such as education and health, all have direct impact on children. A key issue is how political systems that exclude children from participation can ensure that their wishes and interests are not overlooked.

Children need a consistent care by a loving care giver who could be a parent or a guardian. The security and support that such an adult can provide gives a child the confidence and resilience to cope effectively with life. To mature emotionally and socially, children must interact with people outside their home. These interactions could be with close relatives, friends, neighbours, and people at school, church or sports clubs or other activities. This helps them to learn. They also l;earn by watching the adults in their lives.

Certain major events that disrupt the family structure such as illness, divorce or death may pose a challenge to the 21^st Century child. These events may interfere with the child’s general social development. For example, a chronic illness may prevent a child from participating in activities and also impair performance in school.

CULTURAL ISSUES CHALLENGING CHILDREN

Culture plays an important role in influencing childhood development and what is considered normal varies greatly from one culture to the next. The society and culture in which a child grows up influence everything about him. It determines the kind of problems he would face and how he would tackle them. Culture determines the age at which one child begins schooling or get independence from the parents.

Parenting styles also vary as a function of culture. Race and racial stereotypes can have detrimental effects on a child’s development. Race is also linked closely to class, and children of colour are still statistically much more likely to lack access to basic resources and to experience economic hardship. Where a child grows up and who her parents are will influence the worldview of the child and lay emphasis on certain values and skills.

As there are different cultures so are there moral differences. Because of this, individuals stress certain ideas, goals and skills. These morals tend to come from the family more that the classroom.

Another influence of culture is autonomy. When cultural moral and parenting styles mix, the culture of the home pushes a child into certain habits. These habits can shape the child into anything from an independent rebellious rascal to an overly reliant mommy’s kid.

One of the most obvious cultural differences is language. Every child’s language is his primary means of communication, and communication is the heart of cultural expression.

Yet another element of culture that poses a challenge to children of the 21^st Century is worldview. As the word implies, it is the worldview of a child that influences how he sees the outside world. Children of a tribal culture will probably be more concerned about the welfare of their tribe than the broader world. This particular component of culture may due more to economic, geographical and other things than anything else, but children learn and adopt the worldview of their cultures.

In the end, each culture has all of these elements and more; the differences are created because of what each culture chooses to emphasize and promote. These things are taught consciously or unconsciously to children in every culture. Children therefore, are product of their cultures.

ECONOMIC ISSUES CHALLENGING CHILDREN

The economic cost of child abuse and neglect are tremendous. Some costs come from hospital costs for medical treatment of injuries sustained as a result of physical abuse and foster care costs resulting from the removal of children when they cannot remain safely with their families.

Other costs include lower academic achievement, adult criminality, and lifelong mental health problems. These costs impact our society and economy and in turn affect the children.

On the other hand, nutrition affects growth and availability of funds for food is important. Crowded living conditions increase the risk of disease such as tuberculosis, flu, respiratory illnesses. Income will force families to put several children to the same bed, these challenges notwithstanding.

Basic hygiene of children suffers if you have no running water, heat or personal supplies. Poverty affects how a child feels about himself. Self-esteem suffers from lack of money.

The deepening economic crisis is profoundly impacting children. Its effects are rippling through the multiple contexts of family; problems such as job loss, loss in family savings place strain on parental relationship with their children.

For low-income families, basic needs such as food security, healthcare and shelter go unmet. Higher poverty rates are associated with increased rates of family conflicts, child neglect and abuse. In all these, the children suffer a lot.

Adolescents at the stage of furthering their education either to the secondary or tertiary levels may be forced to postpone or abandon their plans for higher education and instead seek increasingly scarce jobs in order to contribute to the household economy. All of these can have profound and lasting effects on the mental health of children often causing serious psychological problems.

Research finds that having financial problems affects parents’ relationship with their children. Parents who experience financial problems are less likely to feel connected to their children and their children are less likely to engage in pro-social behaviours such as helping others. Pro-social behaviours lead to moral development and enhanced performance at school. But where there is no money, the children are not properly attended to, these challenges, in effect, their own ability to respond to the society positively.

CONCLUSION

From the foregoing, it is obvious that children are posed with great challenges which they do not have control over. We can also discover that the challenges are intertwined in a way that makes it possible to tackle one issue without tackling the other equally. Does this remove all hopes of any help? No.

There is need for proper orientation and education of adults so as to be prepared to handle these issues. Most importantly are the educators – both teacher in school, churches and children theatre educators, as it were; since they have profound influence on the children, should be well versed in aiding and supporting children to wade through this vulnerable stage of life in this 21^st Century.

Educators should be familiar with children’s particular challenges and should put them into consideration when preparing both curricula for lessons and theatrical plays and performances for children. By understanding the needs and challenges facing children, educators could build relationships of trust through their performances, plays, lessons and involvement of children in theatre activities. Children benefit when they can participate and feel connected. A strong sense of belonging helps children understand and appreciate differences in themselves and others, which ultimately benefits them.