You may have read the UNICEF report about the well-being of youngsters in the world’s wealthiest nations.
British children are languishing at the bottom in the survey of 21 nations, which included Europe as well as the United States, Canada and Japan. The overall quality of life for children in the United States was judged only narrowly better than in the UK, finishing 20th in the table.
Comment in the Independent (14 Feb 2007):
“Despite living in the fifth richest country, the next generation of UK citizens experience some of the worst levels of poverty. The research found they regard themselves as less happy, and that they drank more alcohol, took more drugs, and had more underage sex than children overseas.
They were also more prone to failure at school, to experience violence and bullying while suffering a greater number of unhappy relationships with both their families and peers.
The Unicef (sic) report, which prompted outrage from children's charities and embarrassment for the Government which has lavished billions on child health and education, placed the UK last”
I saw many front page comments on this study in the UK, but (correct me if I’m wrong) I didn’t see this report as front page news in the US leading newspapers.
I wrote a letter to the Independent and the Guardian, but neither one published my comment.
Dirk Adriaensens
Member BRussells Tribunal executive committee
Coordinator SOS Iraq
Dear editor,
We shouldn't be surprised at all that British and US children are languishing at the bottom of an international league table examining the physical and emotional well-being of youngsters in the world's wealthiest nations.
I read many explanations, but I didn’t read the obvious reasons for this state of affairs.
Indeed, what the commentators don't mention and seem to forget is that the children in these countries are taught that democracy means killing and humiliating people, that "well-being" means spending trillions of dollars on the production of weapons that destroy whole countries and wipe out whole civilisations. If you educate your children with double standards, if you tell them that war is peace, that you should show your love to people by bombing the hell out of them, if lying is the norm of your government, if you can get away with almost any crime of murder and torture in the name of bringing "human rights", what do you expect from these kids? What values do they expect them to have? How do you want them to feel in this hypocrite society, where doublespeak is the norm. Youngsters are corrupted by their own governments.
With the money that the US and UK is spending on the destruction of the planet, UNICEF could provide free education, free healthcare, clean water, vaccinations etc… to all the children in the Third World, end the poverty inside the US and the UK and improve the education. So why don't the educators of these children create havoc and denounce this logic of war, destruction and spilling of resources? Why don't they impeach their leaders, bring them to court and try them for war crimes? What kind of example do they give to their youth?
What's more: the images of Abu Graib were a complete revelation. Why did no one point out that it was a female soldier at its very centre. Why did no one dare say that the notion of femininity might have gone through a serious metamorphosis, that we might confront here a newly devastating feminine role? The US and UK warmongers have given their children the image that women have now become torturers and angels of death instead of caring mothers, instead of creatures of sanity and humanity in the midst of a masculine flesh-mincing machine. American and UK societies are going through a severe process of moral and intellectual regression. Sexual humiliation of Iraqi detainees by women is just a single symptom.
But of course the mainstream press won't tell you all this, because their journalists are at least co-responsible for this state of affairs. And it's happening under our eyes right now, with the build-up of an attack on Iran.
If we want to restore the trust of our children in the society we live in, we'll have to change it. Children get their values through examples. If their fellow-citizens go around the world killing people with impunity, it's no surprise that a lot of the youngsters totally reject this society and end up dazed, confused, aggressive, drunk…….
Best regards.
Dirk Adriaensens
Member BRussells Tribunal executive committee http://www.brusselstribunal.org
Coordinator SOS Iraq http://www.SosIraq
Please also see:
UNICEF: Launch of the Report Card 7: Child Poverty in Perspective
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=3164&blz=1
Among Rich Countries, US Child Well-Being Poor, But Optimism Prevails
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0221-06.htm
Children have their say over UN's report on their lifestyle
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2271654.ece
Lost children: The 60 boys and girls who have vanished
One disappears every five minutes. So how many are lost in Britain right now? The scandal is that nobody knows
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1956565.ece
British children are languishing at the bottom in the survey of 21 nations, which included Europe as well as the United States, Canada and Japan. The overall quality of life for children in the United States was judged only narrowly better than in the UK, finishing 20th in the table.
Comment in the Independent (14 Feb 2007):
“Despite living in the fifth richest country, the next generation of UK citizens experience some of the worst levels of poverty. The research found they regard themselves as less happy, and that they drank more alcohol, took more drugs, and had more underage sex than children overseas.
They were also more prone to failure at school, to experience violence and bullying while suffering a greater number of unhappy relationships with both their families and peers.
The Unicef (sic) report, which prompted outrage from children's charities and embarrassment for the Government which has lavished billions on child health and education, placed the UK last”
I saw many front page comments on this study in the UK, but (correct me if I’m wrong) I didn’t see this report as front page news in the US leading newspapers.
I wrote a letter to the Independent and the Guardian, but neither one published my comment.
Dirk Adriaensens
Member BRussells Tribunal executive committee
Coordinator SOS Iraq
Dear editor,
We shouldn't be surprised at all that British and US children are languishing at the bottom of an international league table examining the physical and emotional well-being of youngsters in the world's wealthiest nations.
I read many explanations, but I didn’t read the obvious reasons for this state of affairs.
Indeed, what the commentators don't mention and seem to forget is that the children in these countries are taught that democracy means killing and humiliating people, that "well-being" means spending trillions of dollars on the production of weapons that destroy whole countries and wipe out whole civilisations. If you educate your children with double standards, if you tell them that war is peace, that you should show your love to people by bombing the hell out of them, if lying is the norm of your government, if you can get away with almost any crime of murder and torture in the name of bringing "human rights", what do you expect from these kids? What values do they expect them to have? How do you want them to feel in this hypocrite society, where doublespeak is the norm. Youngsters are corrupted by their own governments.
With the money that the US and UK is spending on the destruction of the planet, UNICEF could provide free education, free healthcare, clean water, vaccinations etc… to all the children in the Third World, end the poverty inside the US and the UK and improve the education. So why don't the educators of these children create havoc and denounce this logic of war, destruction and spilling of resources? Why don't they impeach their leaders, bring them to court and try them for war crimes? What kind of example do they give to their youth?
What's more: the images of Abu Graib were a complete revelation. Why did no one point out that it was a female soldier at its very centre. Why did no one dare say that the notion of femininity might have gone through a serious metamorphosis, that we might confront here a newly devastating feminine role? The US and UK warmongers have given their children the image that women have now become torturers and angels of death instead of caring mothers, instead of creatures of sanity and humanity in the midst of a masculine flesh-mincing machine. American and UK societies are going through a severe process of moral and intellectual regression. Sexual humiliation of Iraqi detainees by women is just a single symptom.
But of course the mainstream press won't tell you all this, because their journalists are at least co-responsible for this state of affairs. And it's happening under our eyes right now, with the build-up of an attack on Iran.
If we want to restore the trust of our children in the society we live in, we'll have to change it. Children get their values through examples. If their fellow-citizens go around the world killing people with impunity, it's no surprise that a lot of the youngsters totally reject this society and end up dazed, confused, aggressive, drunk…….
Best regards.
Dirk Adriaensens
Member BRussells Tribunal executive committee http://www.brusselstribunal.org
Coordinator SOS Iraq http://www.SosIraq
Please also see:
UNICEF: Launch of the Report Card 7: Child Poverty in Perspective
http://www.unobserver.com/index.php?pagina=layout4.php&id=3164&blz=1
Among Rich Countries, US Child Well-Being Poor, But Optimism Prevails
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines07/0221-06.htm
Children have their say over UN's report on their lifestyle
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2271654.ece
Lost children: The 60 boys and girls who have vanished
One disappears every five minutes. So how many are lost in Britain right now? The scandal is that nobody knows
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1956565.ece