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BSS-19
BABYCARE-GOOD CITIZEN
Proper care help babies grow as good citizens
DHAKA, June 26, 2018 (BSS/UNICEF FEATURE) – Raising a child with proper
care and with true parental responsibilities is sure to bring a meaningful
change in a family, society and also a state, which would in turn help them
break the shackles of poverty and live a life with dignity.
“I expect my baby to grow up to be a responsible and caring citizen,” says
a mother of three small children while talking to BSS at the exit gate of an
English Medium School in the posh Dhanmondi area of the capital city.
When asked what the parents hope, dream and expect for their unborn
children, Sayeda Khaleda Khanom, a housewife, replied straightway that all
the parents obviously want their children to grow up as worthy citizens to
live a dignified life and help bring a sustainable social change in the
country.
“The past experience of our socio-economic life speaks of the fact that the
larger section of our children went through a sense of social deprivation
since birth. This grew in manifold as they themselves grew up,” she said,
adding, “the situation is now changing with increased school enrolment and
good care at homes for the babies.”
Mrs. Rashida Salahuddin, another housewife whose only child studies at an
elementary class in the same school, quite philosophically expressed her
views that overall, the parents’ hopes and expectations have been
overwhelmingly positive and fitted well within the available hierarchy of
needs. She meant to say that both the basic physical needs in life and the
children’s ability to be able to fulfill their individual potential s are
particularly important.
“This qualitative exploration lays important groundwork for future
analyses and insights into the changing hopes and dreams of our parents for
their children overtime,” observed Mrs Salahuddin while looking at the last
one decade’s tremendous development in the socio-economic life in Bangladesh.
The social scientists say the parents’ hopes and dreams are being shaped by
their beliefs, morals, rules, values and ways of thinking, which are
transmitted to the children through the behavior of both mothers and fathers
towards their kids to help their positive growth and a shining future in the
potentially important ways.
The good news is that Bangladesh made one of the highly appreciable gains
this year in South Asia being ranked as the 130th best country in the world
for children to grow up. The Save the Children, a global NGO working in
Bangladesh, disclosed the fact while launching its End of Childhood report
here recently.
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