[The Public = Daniel Park] In 1921, Bang Jeong-hwan, who organized the Chondogyo Youth Association and launched a youth movement, introduced the concept of 'children' to mean that children should be respected as members of society with character. And he declared the first day of May as Children's Day. Children's Day events were suppressed during the Japanese colonial period, but they resumed after liberation, and after 1946, they were changed to May 5, and have been maintained to this day.
The 'Children's Charter', announced in February 1957, was prepared with the purpose of presenting children's rights, welfare, and desirable growth patterns and protecting them by all members of society. Its content is "The guide is to ensure that all children grow up beautifully and vigorously, with human dignity without discrimination, respected as new people who will carry on the future of the country."
Children’s Day ‘gifts’ cannot be missed. What gift would your child like to receive? According to the results of an online survey conducted by School Jam, an educational content company specializing in education contents in 2020 for 396 teenagers on Children's Day, the top gift they wanted to receive from their parents was 'commendation' (23.7%). The second place was pocket money (22.7%), the third place was the expression of affection (21%), the fourth place was a gift (18.4%), and the fifth place was free time (14.1%).
There are many events and places worth visiting with your children in Children’s day. The Independence Hall of Korea announced on the 4th that it will hold the 'Children Love Country Love Culture Event' on the 5th to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Children's Day. The Independence Hall Children's Day event will be held for the first time in three years in the aftermath of COVID-19. Starting at 11:15 a.m., the Air Force Special Flight Team Black Eagles Air Show, Army Honor Guard Chairman Demonstration, Children's Puppet Theater Magic, Children's Cheerleading Performance, Children's Theater Company Performance, Cultural Music, and Taekwondo Demonstration will be held. Additional events include a C-47 transport plane boarding experience, free photo printing service, long-legged Pierrot and plaster mime.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Seoul Botanical Garden will open a 'small botanical garden village' in front of the Forest Culture School. On the 5th, Children's Day, to commemorate the opening of a small botanical garden village, programs such as a parade performance with a marching band and an experience of decorating the village garden floor with colored chalk will be held. The Seoul Forest Butterfly Garden, which was closed or suspended for two years due to COVID-19, will also be renovated to welcome visitors.
At Children's Grand Park, you can see alpacas and meerkats, which are popular with children, and the red fox, which has become a new member of the family this year. In the plaza in front of the Fine Dust Reduction Forest, various participatory events such as a coloring event that draws a character of the Grand Park on the floor and a 'Family Run' in which a photo wall is completed by taking a certification shot at a major location in the park are prepared.
Meanwhile, there are surveys about children's social perception.
Ahead of the 100th anniversary of Children's Day, the National Teachers and Employees' Union (KTU) conducted a '2022 Children's Life and Opinion Survey' targeting 1,841 children in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades nationwide. The result showed that 1 in 3 children thought that there was gender discrimination or discrimination based on the rich or poor in Korea. 64.7% of children thought 'there is no gender discrimination in Korea' and 69.9% of children said 'There is no discrimination based on rich or poor'. And 67.5% of children thought that 'Korea does not discriminate against people with disabilities'.
In addition, 63.9% of children thought that 'Korea is free from war risk and peaceful,' and 75.5% answered that 'Korea is making efforts to overcome the climate crisis'. This response rate was lower than the items 'the neighborhood I live in is safe from traffic accidents' (87%) and 'the neighborhood where I live is safe to walk around at night' (81.1%).
There was also a question about “What is the perception of violence or abuse at home, at school, or in cyberspace?”.
75.4% and 64.1% of children considered to be respected in society and cyberspace, respectively. The thought of not being respected in society increased as the grades increased (4th grade 18.6%, 5th grade 24.1%, 6th grade 27.1%), and the 4th grade (38.5%) had the highest response rate of not being respected in cyberspace. More children felt respected at home (92.2%) and at school (91%). 72.0% answered that they had never experienced violence such as profanity. The number of children who said they had been abused by a friend was 20.8%, more than siblings (9.2%), fathers (3.5%), and mothers (3.2%).
Many children answered that they wanted to eliminate discrimination (245 people) or create a peaceful country (74 people) when they were asked of what they would like to do for Korea. Many of them answered that “if I became president I want to get rid of the College Scholastic Ability Test(CSAT).”
[Image by Yonhap News Agency]
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