With May upon us, words such as “children,” “family” and “love” come to mind. Some particularly joyful thoughts about my own childhood on Children’s Day are visiting the amusement park with my parents, receiving gifts and eating delicious food. Everyone around me gave me attention, making me feel like I was the prince of the world for a day. These good memories with my parents have helped me overcome difficulties I faced.
Jonathan Brandshaw, a U.K. professor at the University of York, said that having an unhappy childhood increases the likelihood of unhappiness in adulthood. The Children’s Charter, which was declared in Korea in 1957, proclaims that “The child, wherever possible, should grow up in an atmosphere of affection.”
There is an interesting experiment. Chimpanzees do not teach their babies how to eat nuts. They only show them how to crack open the nuts using a stone, and let them eat them. Through repetition, the baby chimpanzees follow the technique. But an orphaned chimpanzee takes longer to learn the technique, falls behind in utilization, ends up in a low rank as an adult, and constantly struggles to overcome these challenges. I believe the same applies to humans.
May is a month for children. They are supposed to be with their parents. However, there are many children growing up without family or parents. According to statistics, some 15,000 children around the nation are currently living in 280 institutions. They eat, wear clothes and receive education like any other child. But there is something missing. They don’t have loving parents or a family. It is heart-wrenching to me that these children have no family to visit on New Year’s Day or Chuseok.
Therefore, the government should make efforts to address such problems. It faces two main tasks. One is to prevent family separation caused by financial difficulty, and the other is to promote domestic adoption.
First, the government should actively support single mothers who are willing to raise their children but struggling with economic problems. It needs to help them secure jobs and get an education.
One solution is to introduce child care allowance that is implemented in developed countries. Our government provides single mothers with 100,000 won a month, but this is not even enough to buy diapers.
There may be financial limits for the government. But even now, an average of 1 million won is provided monthly to each child in an orphanage. Many families in need of support would not give up their children should they be provided with half that amount of money per child. For example, in the Netherlands, about 1,200 single mothers gave up their children per year in the 1970s. But the number was reduced to only two to three in the 2000s after child support increased.
Another solution is to activate domestic adoption. Despite the government’s efforts to prevent family separation, there are inevitable situations in which society must protect the children. Although this may be second-best policy, there need to be families that can raise these children like their own.
Even at this moment, quite a few children are waiting for homes. May 11 is Adoption Day. The government designated this day with the intention of finding a family for each child who needs protection. Children born to this world are all our own sons and daughters. Is it not our obligation to embrace these children so that they can grow in warmth and joy in our homes?
Shin On-han, a doctor of public health, is president of Korea Adoption Services. He served as vice minister of health and welfare. He can be reached at lsoll@kadoption.or.kr. ― Ed.
By Shin On-han
