Campaigners are overlooking threats to children and youth, say NGOs

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Campaigners are overlooking threats to children and youth, say NGOs

By THE NATION 

 

 

NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisations (NGOs) are unhappy that political parties vying to form a government after the election are failing to pay adequate attention to the needs of children and youth. 

 

The lack of platform policies and public statements suggests an uncaring attitude to the challenges encountered by young people, the agencies say, noting the lack of policies on threats from drugs and ignorance about sex. 

 

“Apparently their policies do not focus on solving children/youth’s problems,” about 30 NGOs chorused in a joint statement. 

 

Released by groups that have worked for children and youth causes, the statement has raised concerns that political officeholders will largely ignore youngsters post-election.

 

“Only five parties have mentioned policies related to children or youth. And these policies do not cover youngsters who are outside the official education sector at all,” Wanchai Poonchuay said late last week. 

 

He said a huge number of Thai youths were out of school and they must not be ignored.

 

“Leaving them out in the cold will only widen inequalities in the country,” he said. 

 

Suranart Paenprasert, a core member of the network, noted that campaigning parties have tended to focus on welfare, cash handouts or educational excellence. 

 

“Not a single party has paid attention to problems surrounding children and youths. These problems occur in surroundings created by adults,” he complained.

 

Every year, more than 30,000 offenders under 18 are sent to juvenile correctional facilities because of crimes committed, more than half being drug-related offences. 

 

“It should also be noted that nearly 10,000 students drop out of school each year,” Suranart added. 

 

His network emphasised that the dropout rate was related to the rate of crime among minors.

 

Suranart said 2,510 youngsters are also killed in accidents each year, on top of those crippled or maimed. 

 

“Records also show that 3.6 million children and youths are gamblers. Of these, over 400,000 are addicted to gambling,” he pointed out.

 

He said news reports suggest that most sexual-assault victims are ages five to 20. 

 

“More than half of sexual offenders are family members or other people in the victims’ close circle,” he noted.

 

Thai children are growing up in an unsafe environment, the network said. 

 

“And now we have cyber-bullying on the scene as well,” Suranart said.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30365972

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-18

[WeekendRaider]

very few folks are as 'prefrontal cortex' as the 1980's American central bank chairman Paul Volcker is as a man and a literate thinker.   by that I mean he is a man like Hal Moore Jr., the colonel who commanded one of the first major encounters between North Vietnamese troops and the US Army Air Cav.   

in a recent interview by Ray Dalio, on Youtube about 4/5 of the way thru he states flatly what many of us who have studied and know as a flat out fact.  we have killed the younger generation.

how can the writer of this article ignore this?  how can you leave it out?  how can anyone be so lost in delusion and denial?  we have three ways to prove it out.  simple physics that are 200 years old.  the geophysical history of the Earth such as in ice core samples.  and now, contemporary climate effects that we don't even need to use statistical analysis to detect any longer.  is their future bleak?  no.  they don't have one.  simple physics.  not even as complicated as the stuff that allows cellphones to work.  how can anyone ignore this even if they have not done the level of study that it requires? 

listen to what is being published in every science journal so related!