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Theme for this month February 2021:
Global Civilizational State: the application of the Scale of Global Rights to the most important global issues threatening humanity's survival worldwide.
Global Issue 9: sections 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 affected: Issues threatening the health and future of children and of the next generations. Climate change, ecological degradation, migrating populations, conflict, pervasive inequalities, predatory commercial practices, and the rampant spread of Covid-19 threaten the health and future of children in every country. What is even more worrisome and fearful is that children stand on the precipice of a climate crisis. Wealthy countries are threatening the future of all the children in the world through carbon pollution.
Because of the pandemic, parents, grandparents, and children spend much more time together within their houses. This might have led to new familial relationships, understanding and responses including conflicts when children might have learnt new things about their parents and vice-versa during the extra ordinary length of lockdown time. It could be both positive and negative with respect to the family dynamics. Because of Covid-19, the lock down and the confinement within homes initially were difficult. It led to considerable release of negative emotions. The pandemic has also transformed the thinking and worldview of people when they started seeing others as potential carriers of infection. The pandemic has significantly influenced the social and psychological fabric of society where everyone is fearful of getting infected.
Despite dramatic improvements in survival, nutrition, and education over recent decades, today’s children face an uncertain future. Successful societies invest in their children’s futures and protect their rights. However, many politicians and governments in the world still do not consider such an investment as a priority. Even in rich countries, many children, especially in marginalized groups including indigenous people and ethnic minorities still suffer from hunger or live in conditions of total poverty.
Data show the largely negative impact the commercial sector on the well-being of children in all countries, with companies promoting addictive or unhealthy commodities, such as fast food, sugar sweetened beverages, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and social media. Companies make huge profits from marketing products directly to children and promoting addictive or unhealthy commodities, all of which are major causes of noncommunicable diseases. The commercial sector’s profit motive poses many threats to child health and wellbeing, not least the environmental damage unleashed by unregulated industry. Children around the world are enormously exposed to advertising from business, whose marketing techniques exploit their developmental vulnerability and whose products can harm their health and wellbeing.
The world’s countries agrees to leave future generations with a cleaner and healthier world. Early investments in children’s health, education, and development have benefits that compound throughout the child’s lifetime, for their future children, and society as a whole. As our economies become more knowledge-based, and the use of telecommuting thus making it easy to learn and work from home, education has become more and more important.