The Whole Society Should Take Necessary Responsibility for the Children

I fully agree with Marie Cocco， “Let Children Be Children， Not Pilots or Hunters.” Families， schools and the whole society should take the responsibility for the meaningless death of the children and for the bad consequences that children may cause. I can safely conclude after finishing the article that the adults， who fail to stop the children from risking their lives doing things， are the real criminals. I think children are just children， they are too young to know what they are doing or what their doings will lead to； they are too young to be “pilots” or “hunters.” I think the adults and the society shouldnt encourage children to do things beyond their practical experience and their ages； the grown-ups cant take it for granted that children can achieve whatever they want to achieve while paying no attention to their actual ability.

Marie sees things with a keen eye. In her editorial， Marie puts forward a sharp question—“who failed.”—Whose fault is it if a child loses his or her life by boarding a plane alone？ Obviously， it is not the children who failed even though they may lose their lives or hit an office building. Instead， it is their parents， their teachers and their friends who are to blame. If children can do things just like adults， they will not be called children. The noun “children” not only represents their age， but also refers to their vulnerable physical and psychological conditions. Children are far too young to know exactly what will happen when taking an adventure while the adults are old enough to know clearly what will be the consequence： probably， death is there waiting for the children. Parents and the society havent any excuse to defend themselves； they help bring about the death of the children and the loss of the public property.

It is more shocking to know that a mother supports her daughter as young as seven-year old to pursue “what America stands for” than to know the girl Jessica Dubroff has become the youngest sacrifice instead of the youngest pilot by flying across the country. To my understanding， the adults are crazy. The mother， I think， is the real murderer. She kills her daughter. That she encourages her little daughter to fly is not different from helping her daughter commit suicide. I think she has the duty to prevent her daughter from taking that try. I believe one of the parents duties is to protect the life of the children and to instruct childrens behaviors since the children are not old enough to tell what they are able to do from what they are unable to do even after they try their best.

What does America stand for？ It is ironic that Marie says， “It seems， too often， to stand for the freedom to let kids endanger themselves and everyone else， too.” The meaning of the “freedom”， the symbol of the United States is misleading.“Freedom”itself is a commendatory term. Of course， everybody wants to pursue freedom. However， “Freedom”doesnt mean anybody including small children can do whatever they want to do， nor does it mean parents， schools and the whole society can neglect their duty and fail to protect the children， nor does it mean the adults can encourage the young children to risk their lives or endanger other peoples lives. It is good that American people are aggressive； they like to meet all kinds of challenges including limits and Death. Its no wonder that the young children are influenced by their parents and by the spirit of America. Children， no matter how old they are， like challenges too. But， challenges are devils if they result in death. If freedom leads to death for no reason， I want to call this kind of “freedom” a devil.

The so-called super-security is a kind of illusion if the United States hasnt sound legal systems. If the law says “A teen-ager possessing—but not buying—a rifle or shotgun is perfectly fine，” the potential danger exists anytime， anywhere in the States. If a child can have a gun， what do you expect？ If a child gets the permission to board an unattended plane， what do you expect？ The laws will never take the parents as criminals if they encourage their children to risk their lives， let alone to punish the parents for their failure to keep their children safe. As long as the children can possess guns or fly solo， they may lose their own lives and threaten other peoples safety， and there will not be much security in the United States.

What is worse is not that America has no perfect laws， but that American people havent realized the seriousness of the present problem—many grown-ups still think it unassailable to encourage children to take any adventure without paying enough attention to the childrens safety， and consider those adventures as both their freedom and the childrens freedom， as what America stands for. If parents and schools dont change their mind to stop this silly encouragement， I am afraid more and more children will lose their young lives out of ignorance and out of the adults stupidity.

Children are likely to act on a momentary impulse. They cant think as comprehensively as adults do. However， children have the strongest curiosity， they want to try almost everything if allowed. They pay great price for their immaturity. I remember I had a nine-year-old neighbor named Linlin twenty years ago. Once she wanted to fill a kettle with boiled water. Ignoring her parents warning， she tried and wounded herself to three-degree burn. If something dangerous happens， children cant handle it as well as the grown-ups. How can parents entrust the young children with any perilous task？ As long as the parents have some sense of responsibility， they will not allow their children to do anything at the risk of their childrens lives.

My colleagues son Gao Chao， an elementary school student once followed an chivalrous expert swordsman in a movie and stabbed one of his classmates with a sword. I dont think the boy really thought his classmate was a bad guy， he just played for fun； I dont think the boy knew the consequence of his behavior. Should the little boy take the responsibility for what he had done？ Of course not. Gao Chao was too young to understand what he had done or what his behavior meant to his imaginary enemy—his classmate. Children do have the excuses for their misbehaviors—they are young.

There is an old saying in China： those who play with fire will burn themselves to death. If parents， schools， and the whole society go on encouraging children to “play with fire” such as flying alone and possessing guns， they will cruelly let the children burn themselves for nothing. Children have a long way to go， they have much to learn in their lives. If parents cant help the children avoid the tragedy， they are just unqualified parents. They should go to hell themselves.

Let children be children， let children fully enjoy their childhood. They have too much to learn； they have the right to enjoy their lives； they have the freedom to live longer. Its immoral for the adults to encourage the children to risk their lives. Parents， schools and the whole society should be responsible for the childrens personal safety. Anyway， the devil knows many things because he is old. I want to warn the grown-ups： stop-helping kill the children！ Stop committing crimes.

【作者簡介】张红旗，云南大学大外部。