Eyes of a child

 “In the eyes of a child there is joy, there is laughter. There is hope, there is trust, a chance to shape the future. For the lessons of life there is no better teacher, than the look in the eyes of a child” 

The Air Supply gave this verse a tune and I consider it very powerful. When my childhood years flashed before me, such melody rang in my ears. Until now, many of us who are familiar with the song may just do the same: hum the sentimental and classic beat. Such was a joy, when in our youth, we were worry-free, with typically having little demands in life. Many thanks to the parents who raised us up, who moulded and guided us which in the process made our frailties to grow fainter. So we say, gone are the days of our youth.

Children are protected and their various concerns were addressed by our government, although most of the time unnoticed. With the incidence of stick-whipping shadowy group chasing the late-night prowlers, these children are helpless victims from the start because parents fed them to hardened criminals on the streets. The City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO) kept records that point to Potentially Neglected Children as its number one clientele in the discussion of children’s concerns. So, should people take the blame therefore to the children’s poor understanding of this situation? These buddies know nothing about government statistics and what perhaps gave them rage, short of insanity, is the fact that nobody gave them the worth of a human life.

These youngsters go back to the streets because they find their companions to be worth of their time. With cravings to fill an empty stomach, they become tempted to steal. As days go on, stealing will become a daily habit, a head start to something more evil. By the way, where are the parents of these kids? Pray tell, some have gone for the lusts of satisfying their vices. Drunkard fathers beat their children to their knees for no reason at all while mothers could not help but only feel the shiver. With the kids roaming around, who is to blame? The answer is clearer than the cloudless noon-time sun.

To make the obvious to become more obvious, the bastards wanted our officials to kneel before them. The outcry tolled from the corporal infliction of injury towards children by way of a punishment for violating the curfew hours, is ironically lashed back to the government. But it is just fair under the circumstances of an imperfect society and in order to achieve the balance, that’s why we have institutions like CSSDO and DSWD. It is sad that a purely familial matter always gets in the way to the portals of the public office. This basic unit is under attack and there goes a vicious cycle that children surfaced at the end of the hour as the hapless victims. Can our government teach these little fellows morality if at all it will make sense to them?

The band of latigo-bearing men had sent the message that echoed to the gullible human rights groups. Legal experts for human rights in their swivel chair must have gotten the hint. The diversion move by our government towards these children, foremost was to give them proper education. The record of CSSDO for the care of children clearly speaks for itself, that it never failed to respond to each abandoned child’s need. On certain conditions, these children must be off the streets like vagrants at night. That perhaps concludes that we are more child-friendly because even without the aid of extra-ordinary measure of a whipping latigo, we can still drive children away from the worst possible harm.