Children are always thought to be the harbingers of the future. We strive to educate and encourage them to be better humans than us. We base our dreams of a better world on their wisdom. However in many parts of the world, they are being abused and

Children are always thought to be the harbingers of the future. We strive to educate and encourage them to be better humans than us. We base our dreams of a better world on their wisdom. However in many parts of the world, they are being abused and exploited. We insist on poisoning the well of the future. Man is not sufficiently satisfied in polluting the environment; he has to pollute his offsprings as well. Allow me to share with you pictures of terrifying and diabolical acts committed against children across the world by men gone insane in their striving for power.

While many of our young students here in the CNMI cope with delinquency, substance abuse, early parenting, and school dropout, let’s examine what other children are coping with in other parts of the world. After reading the following accounts discuss the articles with your children and remind them to be thankful they live in the CNMI.

Children around the world are being abused in ways that most of us will find unbelievable. They are being exploited as laborers, abused as soldiers, placed into child slavery, sexual exploitation, debt bondage, and trafficking to name only a few. Despite promises and the nearly universal ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children’s rights are widely disregarded and many countries fail to muster the political will to fulfill their legal obligations towards children.

According to a recent report by the Human Rights Watch, “Violence against children-frequently carried out at the hands of the state-remained an issue that governments were loath to address. Countless children continued to suffer violence resulting in physical injury, psychological trauma, and even death. Street children were subject to arbitrary detention and abuse by police; children in correctional or other institutions were beaten or tortured by staff; children in schools were subjected to severe beatings by their teachers; others were victims of summary and arbitrary executions. In many cases, the failure of law enforcement bodies to promptly and effectively investigate and prosecute cases of abuse allowed the abuse to continue”.

Even the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICF), who is responsible for documenting such abuses and inhumane treatment of children, is reluctant to address adequately the protection needs for children at risk of violence and exploitation. The UNICF continues to write drafts almost ignoring the abuses. Instead it writes about traditional problems on health, nutrition, basic education, and opportunity for adolescents to participate in and contribute to their societies.

All this is known to the United States and other supposedly civilized countries. Who shall speak for the right of children to protection from exploitation, violence, and abuse if a world body as the United Nations and the United States refuses to recognize that these abuses exist and act against them? How do these men working in positions of power go home at night and cuddle their own children knowing that they are crippling both psychologically and physically thousands of children outside their homes?

Young children, as can be seen in the Middle East conflict, are constantly being recruited as child soldiers. In Columbia, opposition guerrilla armies and paramilitary forces continue to maintain at least 5,000 children in their ranks and use them as soldiers and spies.

Recently a new optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child established eighteen as the minimum age for direct participation in armed conflict, for forced or compulsory recruitment, and for any recruitment or use by non governmental armed groups. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers estimated that approximately 300,000 children under the age of eighteen fought in armed conflicts worldwide. (continued)

Strictly a personal view. Anthony Pellegrino writes every Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Pellegrino can be reached at tonypell@saipan.com