Children's Rights: A Child's Perspective

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is of a scale most people alive today have never seen. Worldwide, the outbreak is claiming lives and livelihoods as health systems buckle, education is disrupted and families struggle to stay afloat. Communities across the globe are rising to the challenge – from health and social workers risking their lives to protect the most vulnerable, to young people deploying innovative ways to share public health messages. Yet, even as the spread of the virus slows in some countries, its social toll has come fast and hard. And in many places, it comes at the expense of the most marginalized children. It’s a disruption to the society and holds a heavy impact on children on their safety, their well-being, and most importantly is their future. 

The 2021 National Children's Month Celebration with the theme: "New Normal Na Walang Iwanan: Karapatan ng Bawat Bata Ating Tutukan!" (No One is Left Behind under the New Normal:Focus on Children's Rights)" I think would be a really great opportunity to make up for the shortcomings we failed to meet for our children in this time of crisis. These children have all the right to speak, to be heard, and to be felt by us who are older than them. They have all the rights to feel safe and protected especially now that they’re very much prone to the virus coming after the oldies. It’s not an order but is a responsibility. We are responsible for their safety and protection in this world, we can’t just let them do it themselves ‘cause they can’t, not when they're just alone. They need to be taken care of, to be taught well  and be kept safe especially in this time of pandemic. They need to be fed with the right foods  with enough nutrients to sustain their body’s needs. They need to avoid crowded places due to the fact that it’s too risky and dangerous for them. Search what you need to search and do what you have to do just to ensure their safety not only physically but their mental health as well. We must consider that children are not always happy and okay with dealing with everything by themselves, because they’re not. They get hurt and bruised at some point of their lives; they need us to listen and treat their bleeding wound. They need us to comfort them. They can’t protect themselves just yet, and for the time being they need us to do it until they’re enough ready to stand for themselves. For years, their rights as children are not given enough attention and their voices remain unheard. Most kids don't talk that much when some adults are around. Not only they fear older peoplebut some of these kids could already fear judgement at such a young age. I know that because I’ve gone through the same thing. They are scared to speak for themselves thinking that no one would volunteer to lend their ears and try to understand what they want to say. They’ve been keeping their voices long enough, and now the time has come. 

It doesn't matter if this celebration was fulfilled out of neither worry nor guilt of the government, what matters is the fact that they still care and can still see the importance of children in our society. These celebrations are so overwhelming because it's intended for children to feel appreciated, valued, respected and for them to experience the goodness of being a unproblematic child. Children's Month Celebrations let children become children without having to fear judgement from other people. They could voice out their opinions and ideas ‘cause they have ears readily lended for them. Children love that kind of attention, they love it when people show them some care and affection. They’re not that hard to please, just simply telling them that you love them would already make their day. That’s how vulnerable children are, they will want love and attention from the people they care for ‘cause that’s how they think love works. By showing it. I could see the effort that the Government is putting on children’s rights and development which is a really good thing ‘cause in the future they’ll be able to help more kids gain and develop their skills and at the same time, make them feel protected and loved not only by their parents but on our society as well.

Image Sources:

https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/international-childrens-day-2021/

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1773184/Bacolod/Lifestyle/Octaviano-Celebrating-the-Filipino-children

https://johnmolot.com/2014/09/23/turn-turn-turn-turn-this-world-around-for-the-children/

Reference:

https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/agenda-for-action