MAN-MADE DWARFISM

Family Values

HUMAN babies are the most tender and weak of all the offspring of living creatures. Babies therefore, need their parents’ care and guidance for their physical and mental growth. This is why nature has endowed parents with a special attraction for their offspring. In the past, the separation of children from their parents was caused only by abnormal circumstances. In normal circumstances, it was taken for granted that children would enjoy the protection of their parents for as long as they required.

However, this exception has come to be a rule in modern advanced societies. This is the outcome of the modern concept of life which has destroyed the sanctity of matrimony. There are many cases where children are born out of wedlock or when the couples separate shortly after marriage. The result is the same in both cases—alienation of children from their parents, because they are “orphaned” during the lifetime of their parents.

The increasing incidence of this kind of ‘orphaning’ is creating complex problems in modern society, one of which has been termed “Deprivation Dwarfism” or “Psychosocial Dwarfism”. An excerpt from a report by medical experts on this subject says that, “Lack of love can stunt children’s physical growth, retard their intellect or even kill them.” Medical experts believe that unhappy home conditions can cause not only mental retardation in children but stunted physical growth as well. The syndrome is known to affect both infants and children with symptoms that include decreased growth, very short stature, weight that is inappropriate for the height, and immature skeletal age. This disease is a progressive one, and as long as the child is left in the stressful environment, the child's cognitive abilities continue to degenerate. Feeding difficulties in infancy and persistent sleep problems are other common findings.

Just as the human body can become dwarfed, so can the human spirit. The only cure for this condition is the tender, loving care which is engendered by love and family values. There is no substitute for it.