Poorest Kids Speak

The United Nations' Universal Children's Day was on November 20 and I think it's interesting to note the difference between being a child in a developed nation and one that is underdeveloped. Most kids live in poverty and fear, not in the affluence or near affluence of western nations like the U.S. So the perspective of children differs greatly and even the length of "childhood" does as well. When a child is faced with constant struggle he or she grows up quickly, effectively losing the childhood that is necessary for a better balanced adult to have. It's a kind of abuse that poverty inflicts but is sometimes forgotten.

So the multinational survey of children in developing nations, "Small Voices, Big Dreams, that was just released results to the public is interesting. The survey polled close to 3,000 children ages 10 to 12 in 30 countries throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas, from Afghanistan to Zambia. Most were dreadfully poor places. When asked what they need most in their daily lives, here's what a few said. "Food. We'll die of hunger if we do not eat," child, Philippines."I need an environment without garbage," child, Mongolia."School, without it there is no good future," child Zambia.

That's quite a different view from kids in industrial nations who would more likely answer, "The latest Ipod", "Tickets to hear Justin Beiber" or "More McDonald's fries". Only children can give a completely honest and unvarnished sense of what it is like to be young and living in poverty, as do those poor kids. The difference in their lives is striking just from seeing the remarks of each group.

The survey found an overwhelming sentiment among the world's poorest children toward improving their lives through.....you guessed it... education. Too bad the industrialized wealthier kids don't realize it too. More than half of those surveyed (57%) said that, were they the president of their country, they would educate all children, improve the quality of schools and/or construct more of them. When asked what they need most in their lives, one in three (34%) said more or better education.

Because wanting education those poor kids said they needed food. A great many of them are just plain hungry. When asked what they need most, one in three (33%) said food. To the question, "what would you spend a dollar on?" almost half (45%) said food and/or water. As president, one in five (19%) said they would help people get food.

To the question of what they fear most, three in 10 (30%) said that were most afraid of animals, with snakes (15%) topping the list. Almost one-fifth (20%) said they feared death and/or disease, and 15 percent said they were fearful of falling victim to war or violence. Kids in wealthy nations probably mostly fear their laptops will freeze or they might miss watching "dancing with the stars " or some other sort of idiocy that appears on their personal TV sets.

That's just some of the survey, but if I were a teacher today in a more affluent school in this country, I think a worthwhile lesson would be to read through it with the kids and ask what they might want to do for those kids with some of their pizza money.