Archivo etiqueta «Infancia»
By Minette Marrin (THE TIMES, 03/12/06):
Jonathan Swift made a famous Modest Proposal in 1729 that the babies of the Irish poor should be eaten to prevent them growing up to a poverty-stricken life of crime. It was, of course, satirical. But nearly 300 years later I would like to make a modest proposal about babies that is almost as shocking, yet not at all satirical.
I’ve come reluctantly to think, especially after the senseless killing of Tom ap Rhys Pryce, that perhaps some babies, in the public interest and to prevent them growing up to a life of violence, … Seguir leyendo
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a novelist, is the author of “Half of a Yellow Sun” (THE WASHINGTON POST, 13/11/06):
Growing up in Nsukka, a small university town in eastern Nigeria, I often had malaria. It was so commonplace that when you went to the medical center, a nurse would say, “Malaria has come again, hasn’t it?” Because I know how easily treatable malaria is, I was surprised to learn that thousands of people die from it each year. People like the relatives of David Banda, Madonna’s adopted son from Malawi.
But of course most American media do not say … Seguir leyendo
By Libby Purves (THE TIMES, 07/11/06):
GAVIN HALL, a responsible health professional of 33, is starting a life sentence after killing his three-year-old daughter, texting his unfaithful wife about it and trying to kill himself. Mohammed Riaz died last week in a fire that he appears to have started in his own home, killing his wife and four children; apparently he thought she was leaving. Last month a former soldier stabbed his baby son and himself to death after his separated wife crossed him. Three years ago another separated man gassed himself and his four sons, cruelly phoning their mother … Seguir leyendo
By Inida Knight (THE TIMES, 05/11/06):
Another week, another horrifying story about men’s frequent and calamitous inability to cope with crisis. Gavin Hall, 33, was jailed for life last week after drugging then suffocating his three-year-old daughter Millie as “revenge” for his wife’s infidelity. He informed his wife of his actions by text message. Hall also killed the family cats, laying out their bodies next to his child’s, before attempting, and failing, to kill himself.
The story is reminiscent of John Hogan’s, who last summer hurled himself and his two children off a balcony in Crete after a row with … Seguir leyendo
Por Ana Pastor Julián, secretaria ejecutiva de Política Social y Bienestar del Partido Popular (EL PAÍS, 30/10/06):
Nos despertamos cada mañana escuchando las noticias de atentados terroristas, inmigración ilegal, catástrofes naturales, muertes por el SIDA, malos tratos, brotes de racismo y xenofobia y conflictos en África. Las amenazas globales del siglo XXI no sólo afectan a los más desfavorecidos, nos afectan a todos, y su solución es responsabilidad de todos. ¿Hay solución para todos estos males del presente? Yo creo que la respuesta nos la da UNICEF: la solución está en los niños. El futuro son los niños.
La … Seguir leyendo
By Eugene Robinson (THE WASHINGTON POST, 20/10/06):
It would be easy to ridicule Madonna for her “I’ll take that one over there” adoption of a baby from an orphanage in Malawi. But it would be wrong.
No, really, it would be wrong.
Granted, the Material Girl makes it hard to take her side. For those who haven’t been following the story, Madonna has ostentatiously joined the rush of Beautiful People to the villages and shantytowns of Africa, where there is a wealth of poverty and suffering to bemoan. She picked Malawi, a small, impoverished, AIDS-stricken nation in southern Africa and … Seguir leyendo
By Alice Miles (THE TIMES, 18/10/06):
ONE IN EVERY 13 children in the developing world today is an orphan, says Unicef. That is 143 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Ethiopia alone has five million, who cost more than is spent each year on health or education. And it isn’t just a black and brown issue: more than a million children in Europe and Central Asia live in residential institutions. Including thousands in Britain.
And among all these millions of children is one, David Banda, whom Madonna is seeking to adopt. (Unicef defines orphans in … Seguir leyendo
By David Chitedze, a Malawian living in Britain (THE GUARDIAN, 18/10/06):
Yohane Banda, father of the baby Madonna is trying to adopt, may say he is happy that his son will be taken to a better place – but he is probably questioning whether he has done the right thing (Madonna adoption baby flown out of Malawi, October 17).Coming from the same ethnic group, religion and district as him, I sense that he did not consult enough members of his extended family, let alone the late wife’s family who feel the child is theirs too.
Adoption, especially … Seguir leyendo
By Zoe Williams (THE GUARDIAN, 18/10/06):
The adoption of one-year-old David Banda from Malawi has been cited as a case of Madonna flexing the muscles of her fame and fortune. Speaking personally, I should much rather see those muscles than her regular muscles, which put one in mind of a hungry horse.More general wisdom, of course, is that this is the end point of celebrity arrogance. They can book tables in restaurants for which regular people have to wait six months, hell, they can even drink and drive, but they cannot play fast and loose with the lives of infants.… Seguir leyendo
By Minette Marrin (THE TIMES, 08/10/06):
Having a baby is an awesome responsibility. Adopting one is in some ways even greater. It means taking in for ever a person about whom you know little or nothing; it means choosing a child without having any real understanding about the choice you are making, knowing nothing of its family.
It is true that some aspects of the choice are obvious; if you go abroad you can select for sex, beauty, race and country of origin. But there is something distasteful about that kind of designer baby shopping. In any case it has … Seguir leyendo
By Hannah Pool, the author of ‘My Father’s Daughter’ (THE GUARDIAN, 06/10/06):
What is it with celebrities and African babies? They just can’t leave them alone. According to reports, Madonna is the latest celebrity to adopt a child from the developing world. If the story is true, the 48-year-old singer has adopted a one-year-old boy from Malawi after a visit to the country. I’m afraid only two words spring to mind: vanity project. Madge wants a baby, so she goes to Africa and “saves” one – that way she gets her baby and scores points for doing a good … Seguir leyendo
Por Carlos Taibo, profesor de Ciencia Política en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid y colaborador de Bakeaz (EL CORREO DIGITAL, 03/10/06):
Nada descubro cuando afirmo que con el paso del tiempo los conflictos bélicos han experimentado un progresivo encanallamiento. Acaso no hay mejor termómetro de lo anterior que un dato bien conocido: a medida que los decenios han ido cayendo, el porcentaje de víctimas civiles generadas por las guerras no ha dejado de crecer. Siempre que invoco esta circunstancia me viene a la memoria una broma, mitad tétrica, mitad lúcida, que gustaba de proponer Coluche. El fallecido humorista francés … Seguir leyendo
Por Luisa Castro, escritora (ABC, 23/09/06):
EN casa, a la hora en que los niños llegan del colegio, enciendo la televisión de un país supuestamente culto y desarrollado y veo a tres energúmenas sentadas en blandos sofás despotricando sobre vidas ajenas e íntimas. Suelen ser mujeres sin estudios, pero con una gran escuela de la vida: saben ganar dinero sin hacer otra cosa que denigrarse a sí mismas y a los demás. En este país supuestamente avanzado esto se gratifica con más audiencia y mayor caché para las invitadas. Miro el reloj, son las seis de la tarde, y … Seguir leyendo
By Camila Cavendish (THE TIMES, 14/09/06):
“STOP ACTING like a child!” I heard myself screaming at 3am one recent morning, outraged and tearful as one small person yet again poked the other awake. My four-year-old looked quizzical. To which of us, he seemed to be wondering, was I referring?
I was reminded of this shameful episode when reading this week’s claims that our children are growing up too fast. One hundred and ten experts, in areas ranging from infant massage to mathematics, have signed a letter urging that we stop feeding children a toxic combination of junk food, television, grown-up … Seguir leyendo
By Justin King, the chief executive of J Sainsbury plc (THE GUARDIAN, 12/09/06):
Last week Jamie Oliver, who fronts Sainsbury’s advertising and has done so much to highlight the importance of healthy eating, used colourful language to criticise parents who allow children to eat junk food and become obese. He has a point. By 2010 one million British children are destined to be obese. A generation of overweight and unfit children are the overweight and unfit adults of the future. This will put substantial pressure on public services, notably the NHS.
But while I agree with Jamie’s drive to … Seguir leyendo