Tuesday 20 March 2018

“THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO JUST TALK AND TALK “ Beatrice age 16, from Zambia




Anthony Van Dyck


        

 “But Jesus called the children to 

  him and said, ‘Let the children 

  come to me and do not stop them, 

  because the Kingdom of God 

  belongs to such as these. ‘ “

     

  - The Bible , Good News Translation




Kids are great because they cut to the chase, see right to the heart of things. Jesus told us to have childlike faith, for that reason. It’s adults that complicate things too much. Kids say it like it is. 







We have to listen to future generations NOW. The unborn, the little ones, the teens, they have righteous needs. They need a safe world free of violence, starvation, thirst, nakedness, sickness, disability, homelessness, pollution, discrimination, rejection, online bullying, exploitation, compulsory military service, and fear. 


* They have the right to go to school and not be mown down by semi-automatic guns. 







*They have the right to see the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon still glowing with colour when they are retired, and travelling. 


*They have the right to not grow up living in doorways , cars and tents. 


*They have the right to attain their full height due to good nutrition, and to be safe playing in their town , from bombs and kidnappers. 


*They have the right to clean and sufficient water. 


* They have the right to medicine and surgery as needed.






*They have the right to be free, not locked up in immigration detention centres, to go to playgrounds and malls like other children. 


* They have a right to a good education, both boys and girls. 







*They have the right to practice the religion of their family without persecution. 


*They have the right to visit forests near their homes, to glimpse native animals and to hear the birds and insects. 







*They have the right to a job when they grow up. 


*They have the right to love and be loved.



They have the right to live to see the last nuclear , chemical and biological weapon in the world disarmed. 


“ They say no laws could have prevented the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred. We call BS. That us kids don't know what we're talking about, that we're too young to understand how the government works. We call BS.” - Emma Gonzalez.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Acerules , age 16 says:

————————————-


Youth today want a lot of things from the “grownups” of the world. The most important and most pressing is respect. Kids, teenagers even those newly deemed “Adults” feel as though their youth is being used against them. Just because, yes I am young and yes I may not be as experienced in the world does not mean that you should ignore what I have to say.


 That ties in with something that’s causing an increasing frustration with us, we want control of our own futures. We want to have a say in things that affect us. We don’t want people deciding things that they won’t even be here for, we want politicians to ask our opinion like they value it. Not just send reporters to a random city with questions most people only hear about on YouTube. 


 No, they should use those censuses they take , to make sure everyone under voting age has told them whether they agree with any particular issue or not. We want the voting age lowered to 16. We want a say in our own lives and the things that affect us. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Thankyou, Acerules. 






One of the greatest speeches delivered in this century:


https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/17/us/florida-student-emma-gonzalez-speech/index.html




7 comments:

Jane said...

Recently a young woman changed her religion and married a Muslim. Her parents went to court. The court annulled the marriage against her protests and sent her to college as she didn't want stay with her parents.
But this girl was 24! Who has the right to decide the lives of their adult children?

Girls under 21 in India are often forcibly married to men much older than themselves. Because the courts see minors as being under the jurisdiction of their parents there is no attempt to stop the practice.

Running on empty said...

It sounds reactionary to me, Jane. I dont understand how the court could go against her wishes at 24 years.

Rina said...

This is so very moving, Running.

Jane, that a young woman would be treated as an incompetent in that way is appalling. It's a blending of two evils -- regarding women as eternal children, and believing that parents have unlimited power over their children. That is, the child is their slave. And the woman is a child.

Today is Human Rights Day in South Africa, commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, at a time when the majority of the population were regarded as children, with the government as heartless parent. The fact that we have come as far as we have since then is in a large measure thanks to the children who risked and lost their lives in the 1976 youth uprising. The struggle for real justice still continues -- especially with regard to our children: their safety, their education, their health, their right to decent homes and a decent future. The thing is never to stop pushing governments, and also always to use any influence you have in your community to improve their lot. Do not give up.

Jane said...

It sounds crazy I know.
But the court actually annulled the marriage and told the girl to return to her parents.
It took the supreme court to reverse this, calling it unconstitutional.
This is a country where couples are killed for daring to marry out of community so nobody was surprised,.

Running on empty said...

I hope the courts took notice of the Supreme Court decision. Grown women are not the property of their parents.

Jane said...

You would think so, but in reality, and not just in India, grown women if unmarried are the property of their parents in the eyes of the community, no matter what the legal position is.
If they are married their husbands decide what they can and cannot do. This includes who your friends are, what you do in spare time, and your money.
If they are widowed it is often the sons who have the final say.
Believe me, this is a much more insidious problem than you could ever imagine.

Running on empty said...

India is supposed to succeed China as the wealthiest country in the medium term. I wonder if that will kill off religion and culture. Or if more people on the internet reading about Western practices will do the same?