Build safety, happiness for minors: group

Foundation officials urged parents to spend at least 30 minutes daily with their children, hug them for at least three minutes every day, praise them three times every day and listen to them for three minutes every day.

Most importantly, if children are to feel secure, they must be able to access adult assistance within three minutes, in a safe environment, if need arises, foundation officials urged.

According to a nationwide investigation conducted by the foundation on Taiwanese children’s human rights in 2006, the index for local children’s survival rights scored only 49 points, the worst score among all the areas surveyed and markedly below the 60-point passing threshold.

Last year, a total of 10,094 children and teenagers were reported as abused to relevant authorities, 13 of whom died as a result of abuse and 31 of whom were killed along with their parents in incidents of filicide-suicide, statistics compiled by the Children’s Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior showed.

This means that on average, one child would be abused by an adult every 52 minutes in Taiwan, and one child would be killed every eight days, according to the bureau’s tallies.

In the first quarter of this year, five children in Taiwan died from maltreatment, nearly one-third of last year’s number, foundation officials said, expressing their grave concern that many Taiwanese children find themselves in similar situations given that some 20 percent of children surveyed acknowledged that they are often beaten or harshly punished by their parents.

Citing the investigation’s findings, foundation officials said that 46 percent of Taiwanese children often feel upset, that 70 percent worry about infectious diseases and a similar percentage are concerned about threats to their personal safety, such as kidnapping. On average, one child dies from accident every 1.4 days in Taiwan, they added.

Earlier the same day, opposition Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers asked the government to pay greater heed and provide greater assistance to issues pertaining to children’s interests and rights at a news conference in the Legislative Yuan.

Some 3.17 million Taiwanese children face safety threats stemming from poor facilities at school, deteriorating public order, traffic disorder,and school yard bullying,in addition to physical deficiencies, family economic straits, scholastic burdens and corporal punishment.

According to TSU legislative caucus whip Tseng Tsahn-deng, nationwide there are some 40,000 local children are being raised by their grandparents, 100,000 mentally or physically retarded children, and 200,000 children being reared in single-parent households.

Last year, 6,602 sexual offenses cases involving minors under 18 years old were reported to the authorities, and 1.28 million children were concerned that they might be kidnapped, Tseng said, pointing out that these relatively high numbers indicate that Taiwan children are not growing up in a safe and secure environment.

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