[Random thought] ¡®Children¡¯s paradise¡¯

It must be only a half century ago when children began to be recognized as persons with independent small character in the thought of Koreans.

Bang Jeong-Hwan (1899-1931), better known by his pen name, Sopa, introduced Children¡¯s Day in 1922 and recognized the importance of children. But our children have been nothing but possessions of adults for a long time.

¡°I treat my child as I like. Who will care? It`s none of your business.¡±

Of course, the trend has greatly changed. Parents today are rather criticized for sparing the rod and spoiling their children. Yet, children as the social existence still remain the weak who are not protected properly.

According to a recent survey by the Life Science Research Institute at Seoul National University, three out of 10 children came home after school with no family members to greet them and must unlock the door themselves. Whatever the reasons are, many children are abandoned for a long time without being protected. Under this situation, children tend to become psychologically fragile, and the possibility of their falling victim to various accidents and crimes becomes higher.

The number of physically abused children has not been decreasing. The emergency telephone number for child abuse (1391) is said to be receiving more than 1,000 calls every month.

What is more stunning is the fact that about 400 children are in traffic accidents daily in the vicinities of their homes and schools on average across the nation. About 36,500 children were killed or injured in traffic mishaps between 1996 and 1998. In particular, 65 percent of the children killed met their fates while walking. If adults had driven more carefully, the number of accidents could have been reduced drastically.

The United Nations Children¡¯s Fund announced that Korea has the highest death rate from injuries among the 26 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 25 per 100,000 children die from injuries, a figure five times that in the advanced European countries.

It is a shameful No. 1. There is a term, ¡°public baby,¡± meaning an adult who is no better than an infant in abiding public order such as traffic rules. Unless these public babies disappear from our society, the child death rate from accidents will never go down.

When will the children¡¯s paradise come?