Published on January 13, 2006
Temptations from marketers affecting youth: academic. More attention needs to be paid to children in middle-class families in 2006 as businesses target their increased purchasing power, a child activist recently warned.
Sompong Jitradab, an academic at Chulalongkorn University, said that in the past most troubled children came from underprivileged families who were homeless or forced into child labour or begging. But as those problems have been alleviated, other groups have been placed at higher risk, he said.
“Nowadays, the allurement of capitalism targets children who have purchasing power in middle-class families,” he said, adding that about half of the children in the country are at risk of being led astray by alcohol, tobacco, drugs, pornography, games or gambling. Sompong said he had become more concerned with middle-class children because underprivileged children have NGOs and activists working on their behalf, while those from higher-income families are often ignored, even by parents who are focused on their careers. “Middle-class children are the ones who will shape our society in the future. But, let’s imagine, if their surroundings are still like this, what kind of adults they will grow up to be in the next 10 years,” he said. The 2005 Child Watch survey recently found 39 per cent of 120,000 young respondents reported that they regularly watch pornography, while 33per cent said they gambled on football or in the two- and three-digit lotteries. According to Child Watch, nationwide more than 50,000 girls 19 years old or younger had babies in 2005, more than 30,000 youths aged 18 or younger committed crimes, and more than 3,800 children were subjected to sexual abuse. Senator Montri Sintawichai, chairman of the Child Protection Foundation, said the main problems relating to children in society are abortions, child abandonment, child abuse and the lack of appropriate developmental support. He said capitalism and businesses becoming involved in the educational system was also a growing problem. While there remains a big gap between urban and rural schools in terms of the availability of teachers and teaching materials, Montri said children in both contexts were being targeted by unscrupulous businesses. “Children are the victims of businesses which use them to pull money from their parents’ pockets,” he said. “Even education has been subjected to marketing by tutorial schools.” He said the educational system had become like a business with the government’s plans to allow some schools to charge fees above the previous nationwide ceiling and cutting universities off from public subsidy. When these plans have been fully implemented, students will be treated like consumers not pupils, Montri said. Senator Wallop Tangkananurak, also a child-protection activist, said there were four main problems that must be addressed in 2006: the growing use of drugs, sex-related problems including HIV/Aids, unplanned pregnancies and abortions, and child abuse. To address these issues, the government must be serious in its efforts to suppress illegal businesses and prurient enticements, he said. As a follow-up , he said the government should encourage healthy family relationships and help provide constructive activities to occupy children’s time. “If the government is serious in its work, we will see some improvements within the year,” Wallop said. Chatrarat Kaewmorakot The Nation
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