The Soul of Society

"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
Nelson Mandela

I listen to the news on television. I read the headlines online. There are numerous stories centering on children. Some of these stories are encouraging while others are frightening. There is the child with cancer that gets a chance to conduct an orchestra juxtapositioned against the child that is shot in a road rage incident. There is a picture of a refugee child reading passages from the Koran to his mother or the picture of a mother mourning the loss of her daughter in a terrorist attack. What do these news articles reveal about the way we feel about or treat children?

We dedicate two days each year to celebrate children. The first is International Children's Day on June 1 and the second is Universal Children's Day on November 20. In addition, individual countries have their own days to commemorate and celebrate children. We allocate these days to finding ways to help children across the world. The UN has even set up an emergency fund for children (UNICEF).

Despite these days dedicated the children's welfare children are still dying in poverty. They are lacking proper nutrition, education and sanitation. Their bodies are dying of curable and incurable diseases, as well as starving. Their minds are being deprived of knowledge that they will need to lead their nations and the world into the next century. What does this tell us about our society's soul?

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