Shenzhen
is unlike many other cities in China, it isn’t known for its busy factories or
its neon-lit shops it is now associated with abandon babies. For almost a
decade, a baby has been abandoned almost every day somewhere in the city. Now
Shenzhen is taking a controversial step to protect the abandon children. They
are reintroducing the Foundling Wheel (well known in medieval Europe), where
there will be incubators, blankets, oxygen on standby, and a button for parents
to press to alert staff to the new arrival. This was frowned upon and provoked
a national media outcry. People said that this would encourage parents to dump
their unwanted children which is illegal in China. “Abandoning a baby is a crime in our country,
but during the process of committing this crime, babies are the victims. Since
the root of the crime which is caused by various complicated issues cannot be
solved in the blink of an eye, it is a good option to shift our focus to
protecting those victims." said Peng Xizhe, a professor at Fudan University.
("China's City of Lost Children Brings in Shelters for Abandoned Babies;
Shenzhen Is Introducing What Was Known in Medieval Europe as the Foundling
Wheel: A Shelter Where Parents Can Leave Their Babies Safely and
Anonymously." N.p., n.d. Web.) Inside the Social Welfare Centre there are
560 children currently living in the dormitories, half of them will eventually
be adopted. The other half are too
mentally or physically ill for adoptive parents to cope with. Beside all these
sad facts there is some good news: abandonments have steadily decreased as
china grows wealthier. The Centre now only receives 100 to 200 children a year
which is down by more than a third from five years ago. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10536358/Chinas-city-of-lost-children-brings-in-shelters-for-abandoned-babies.html)
Personally
I think that, even though it’s against the law, the place to abandon babies is
a safer option for parents to take their child to. With the family planning
policy in China sometimes families are not allowed to have multiple children or
they simply can’t afford it. Before parents would just dump their babies in the
middle of nowhere they would freeze to death or other terrible things would
happen to them.
Hyperlink:
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA353777132&v=2.1&u=morenetspk&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w&asid=cbdcc0953035a36d450eb1268981cb3f
Citations:
"China's City of
Lost Children Brings in Shelters for Abandoned Babies; Shenzhen Is Introducing
What Was Known in Medieval Europe as the Foundling Wheel: A Shelter Where
Parents Can Leave Their Babies Safely and Anonymously." N.p., n.d. Web.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10536358/Chinas-city-of-lost-children-brings-in-shelters-for-abandoned-babies.html
