MANALO, Jazzel Llaneli E.

October 13, 2010

4CA5 Ethics Final Exam

Abandonment of Children

According to Confucius’ teachings, children are the precious gifts of marriage. They
are to be treated with utmost care because they are members of the future generation. Yet
there are a lot of issues regarding child abandonment in our country, the Philippines. Starting
from the mother who left her new born baby in the airport up to the parents who left their
child near Quiapo Church in Manila, these are among the latest news about abandonment of
children. They treat their precious gifts as trashes that are ought to be thrown away wherever
they want to.

Apparently, I am against to this kind of brutality and irresponsibility of parents. First

and foremost, parents have a moral obligation to their children and that is to empower them
by all means, may it be through education, providing basic needs, and the like. If they cannot
provide them these things, then they are not eligible to have their very own children. Second,
no matter who your child is, you should love him/her because s/he is your own. As Confucius
taught us, "Everyone calls his son, his son, whether he has talents or has not talents." If a
parent wants his/her child to give him/her pride and honor, the motivation and support should
first come from the parents. They should be the one to set good examples to them as what
was once Confucius preached, “He must keep himself a veritable hero in his son's eyes, in
order that he may command, and may be worthy to command, his admiration and reverence.
This also he must achieve in very truth and not by deception; for in the "Li Ki" it is said: "A
boy should never be permitted to see an instance of deceit." (Bk. i., sect. i., pt. ii., c. v., 17.).”

All these should be done by a parent and they should never cease to guide their
children. This is why abandonment of children is against the teachings of Confucius. In any
society, the family is the basic unit. A family consists of a father, mother, and children. In this
family, the future generation – the children – should be trained by the responsible parents to
become productive and good members of the society. If a parent abandons his/her
son/daughter, then this child may be bound to belong to that certain sector in the society who
has the tendency to do crime and illegal things. If a child does something bad, the blame will
inevitably bounce back to the parents. If this happens, then the parents haven’t fulfilled their
responsibility as the children of their own parents according to Confucius’ teaching on the
duty of children to parents.

In the "Analects," Confucius says: "A youth, when at home, should be filial, and,
abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in
love to all and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after
the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies." (Bk. i., c. vi.). A
child will never achieve this if his/her parents will abandon and neglect him at one point in
his/her life. I believe these are enough reasons to be considered in stopping child
abandonment and starting or igniting responsibility in parents. Parents should always be
guided by the moral principles of Ren (human-heartedness) and Yi (oughtness) so that they
may become the best parents to their children contributing to their well-being.