3116 Edition
November 14-20
Headline News
Children express their heart’s desire ahead of presidential elections
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong
Written by Lydia Ma
“If I were President, I would improve public order so that those dearest to me and innocent people wouldn’t be harmed. I would make sure that they wouldn’t be afraid to leave their homes or go to school,” said a 10-year-old girl.
She expressed her heart-cry at an event sponsored by Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF), a Christian organization, wherein 2,335 school-aged children across Taiwan were polled randomly in a survey called “Children’s heart-cry questionnaire.” Survey results carry a margin of error at 95% level of confidence.
The report discovered that more than 70% of children thought they weren’t physically healthy enough. Of these children, their top 5 worries included public safety, bullying at school, sexual harassment, the national education system, and intense academic pressures experienced my students nationwide.
Following this survey, TFCF called a press conference on November 9, 2011, where some of the children sampled were asked the same question. The press conference drew attention as it was held barely 2 months before Taiwan’s presidential elections.
One young girl said, “If I were President, I would find a way for little kids to live happily every day and not have to worry about facing so much pressure that they can’t sleep well at night, or suffer nightmares, headaches, and stomachaches. I would give people time and space to decompress.
“Children’s heart-cry questionnaire” also indicated that 83% of children didn’t feel safe and worried about safety. It also indicated that 33% of school children had witnessed bullying at school.
Based on this survey, TFCF created a summary entitled “The top 5 sources of pressure children face.” In this summary, the top 5 sources of pressure were, in decreasing order, worsening social order and decreasing age in young offenders, bullying on school grounds, public safety in face of increasing sexual assaults cases, concerns that what is learned at school will not be applicable in life, and spending long hours at school coupled with excessive homework and testing.
