The Problem Of Orphanage In Society
A perfect world is unrealistic, everyone has imperfections. As a whole society we need to strive to improve ourselves and each other's actions and way of living. A specific social problem I have read into is the orphanage problem in society. There are millions of innocent children that are receiving mental, emotional, and sometimes physical abuse because they are seen as unwanted. When someone or something is seen as neglected or unwanted society decides to treat it as such.
There are pros and cons of orphanages, I just believe the cons outweigh the pros. As stated in the New York Times Article The Lasting Pain of Children Sent to Orphanages, instead of families, “children in foster care don’t get the services they need, and many wind up dropping out of school, pregnant, or incarcerated.” (Rosinberg, 2018) This is due to the constant neglect and limited resources offered to these children. I’m aware that one could say living in an orphanage is better than jumping from foster home to foster house which usually obtain abusive foster parents. But in reality these children are receiving the same abuse at orphanages, maybe just not as direct. Studies have shown orphanages have always had alarmingly high death rates. Which could be for multiple reasons, health, physical, and even mental. One I saw information for is contagious disease. Orphanages are not well kept up, and due to this problem diseases are easily spread and caught. A solution to this problem would be to sterilize the scenery and object used in the facilities. I don't necessarily agree with the pros/cons because the children still end up in danger. When a child's life ends up in danger due to a parent who was unable to care for them therefor neglection plays a role. I can’t support it. Not only do children get physically abused in orphanages, but once they get put in the system they also are being emotionally abused. Just like in the real world colorism plays a role. The generic idea of “beauty” is narrow features, lighter complection skin, and straight hair. Children that don’t carry these features get mistreated the worst. I think Societies are split on the idea of orphanages being positive or negative because they don’t want to be criticized by other people or their opinions. Clearly someone who supports abortions probably isn’t to fond of the idea of orphanages, due to abuse that can go on. Someone who is anti abortion is quick to say give your child away if you can’t afford he/she. Not realizing that this child has a higher chance of being mistreated and not properly appreciated if the parent were to have chose abortion as an option.
Social conflict is a huge deal on the outlook on children in orphanages due to the inequality and social change this topic has. In relation to Karl Marxx theory on social conflict he believes social conflict issues have to deal with scarce resources and issues like that. I believe his theory relates to the view on orphanages for many reasons. My first reason is Orphanages automatically have inequality in the system. Like I stated before issues like colorism, and gender play a huge problem. This also deals with the idea that human research is unethical. It’s unethical because it’s the manipulation of someone's body and mind. This is a personal view/opinion, but I think it’s accurate due to the fact that a human being used as a subject is morally incorrect to begin with. There are people who feel orphanages can do more for children then unstable parents, but it’s honestly a gamble because the child can get the short end of the stick in both situations. This relates to the cultural world because orphanages are our society and in the world we live in. There is a culture of people who don’t believe in giving their children away (as in to the county/system). For example in my culture we do not give our own away to the system. If someone in my family is unable to provide properly for the child another family member would take on the role as parent. Also it is very common for us to adopt our own people, because we know the struggle in society as it is and we would hate to see our own in a negative situation (orphanage) if we could help instead. It’s better in a social environment to grow and learn with someone in your family instead of a complete stranger you have nothing in common with. I think it is also shamed upon in a lot of cultures to give “their own” away, that’s why a lot of people go through with abortions if they know they can’t properly take care of a child.
Infant mortality in orphanages is at an alarming number and this graph does support my argument which is orphanages are bad. The only thing this graph is lacking is the cause of these deaths. There are many reasons death can occur if this isn’t enough to show someone that orphanages are horrible for society, then I suggest you partake in your own research. With everything being said my views and opinions were strong and had valid sources with opinions brought across correctly and factually. Everyone will have their own views on the Betele 5 topic, but I just want everyone to take precautions when it comes to another life as in a baby. Don’t have one if you are unable to properly take care of one, and don't send your baby to an orphanage because they do more damage than good.
