Critical Biography Term Paper: The Child and Society

Children and Society
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CHILDREN AND SOCIETY
Every other living thing has the genetic and intrinsic need to procreate and bear offspring, for the sole purpose of species continuation and the humans are no exception, which partly explains the value accorded to the children in the society. There exist some different viewpoints regarding the proper role that children play within the society, as well as the extent into which they are considered useful (Mills & Mills, 2000). This partly depends on the societal and cultural values and the social status of the parents. In some communities, exceeding a certain number of children is considered illegal, against cultural beliefs while in others children are blessings. The embraced roles and responsibilities of the children have been altered dramatically in the entire world. As such, some of the nations have come up with policies that seek to reduce the rate of population growth, while others are encouraging child bearing for the fear of the consequences associated with high populations of the elderly. There is a story of Chyong Hyong, a child born in China during the error of policies to reduce overpopulation, and the issues that befell him as he grew.
Young Hyong, born in China, found himself in the middle of the overpopulation debate. Born of a relatively poor family, his life took the turn for the worst with the help of the government. The family was not just having a hard time with the new policy; their economic status was worsening every year that passed. The policy revolution took place around the year 1915; one year after the Republic of China was formed. The child bearing trend could not be left as it were because overpopulation brought about great losses and strains to the country and thus the government found it worth to research on measures suitable for controlling the population growth rate. Rampant poverty was one of the strains that were top of the list of strains the country was going through. One of the ways that was considered was through implementation of birth control techniques, where the public was required comply with the methods of family planning. However, some cultural practices and beliefs did not allow these practice that included vasectomy and abortion (James & Prout, 2001). Hyong was still in his mother’s womb, when the stiff policies were implemented. As such, he was affected given that his parents had two other children. The two were boys; with the older one, Han, being four years while the younger one was three. They were always dressed in the same clothes all year, but that did not worry them as they had gotten used to the situation by now. Food was the prime issue as sometimes it was hard to come by sometime. At their age, the thought of another brother in the lineup did not worry them as much; they had other thoughts on their minds and were too young to understand the kind of pressure the parents were going through. To the government, ...