We’re in the season in which we celebrate Jesus being born as a human being. He came as a baby boy and we tend to get sentimental with candlelight versions of ‘Away in a Manger,’ and ‘Silent Night’. However, within two years of the birth of Christ, history tells us that an insecure, ruthless dictator slaughtered hundreds of baby boys in search of the one they labeled ‘King of the Jews.’ Obviously, Herod failed, but I wonder if our own modern insecurities are leading us down a path of child endangerment that isn’t as obnoxious and outright evil, but seems abhorrent nonetheless. Maybe, we don’t like children anymore….

Let me explain.

1) Have you ever noticed that in most U.S. budget cuts, one of the hardest hit areas is education? Arizona and California respectively have cut tens of millions out of their state education funds to ‘insure a better future’.

2) Prior to the 1950’s the word ‘teenager’ did not exist in the English language. But, clever marketing firms created a niche for children to be specifically targeted and suddenly, the word teenager represented a whole new way for children to be exploited. Advertising now aims, not at parents, but specifically at little boys and girls who lack the discernment to know the difference between raw materialism and contentment. Think about who the driving force is in terms of internet, movies, music, and sports marketing—you guessed it-our children.

3)  There is now more enslavement of children today than ever before. Human trafficking, sex slavery, and child labor seems to be out of control. And as of yet, adults can’t seem to come to any agreement on how to fight these issues (see www.ijm.org and www.brandedphx.com for two groups who are at least trying)

4)  Have you seen the tuition rates of some colleges and Universities? Who pays for those four years? Oh yeah, the children.

5)  The vast majority of the more than 12,000 people who die everyday due to malnutrition are children. In most industrialized countries, one of the leading causes of health concerns in recent years is childhood obesity.

6)  Malaria, one of the leading causes of death among children 5 years and younger, is totally preventable and yet, some countries lose tens of thousands of children to this disease every year.

7)  McDonald’s spends more than $500 million annually marketing their food to children under the age of 18. And you wonder why kids don’t want to eat their veggies? How much money do you think carrot and broccoli growers are spending on kids?

8) The divorce rate has been near 50 percent in the U.S. for quite some time. And it’s common knowledge that the hardest hit in any divorce are the children. Yet, we now have higher divorce rates, later marriage dates, and even lower marriage rates. Where do children learn about unconditional love and forgiveness?

9) By most estimates, half the world’s population is under the age of 21, with most of those living on less than $2 a day.

10)  One of the single most dynamic development breakthroughs for any country is to educate their young girls through at least the 8^th grade. The least likely person in any country to get an education is, you guessed it, a young girl.

We can do better...

by Bo White