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What If Children Ruled the World? International
students used their imagination to answer this
question.
Manabu Ozawa from Japan
I used to think how great it would be if children controlled the world. The reason why is very simple. I had a lot of things I wanted to have. If I were an emperor, I would never give any country to a child like I used to be. Actually, I can't imagine what the world would be like if children ruled the world. Children are sometimes cruel and more human than adults. I mean children depend on instincts much more than adults. As children, we pretended to be very nice because we were afraid of parents scolding us. If children had no fear, they would be "Les Enfants Terribles" (Jean Cocteau). There's one idea that I had about war when I was a kid. While I was watching TV news, I wished every war could disappear. What would I do if I were an emperor? People are now getting used to killing each other, and we don't feel anything when we watch it. So I would order people to stop every war. If it were impossible, I would order that the military should consist of animals, like pets. People fight wars for many reasons; some times it might be a religious problem, and sometimes it could be a problem about territory. There's no concern for pets. What would people do if pets killed each other? People have humanity, especially for pets; and if there were only pet militaries in the world, war would vanish. We have to learn from kids that are pure and clean, but we should know kids can be much more cruel than adults. Children need to know how to get along with others before owning the world. We call it education, and adults are after kids who get enough education. I think there would not be a big difference if children ruled the world.
Oscar Ortiz from Venezuela If children ruled the world, the world could be one of the best places in the universe because children are never greedy and never try to cheat. But could adults accept this situation? No, I don't think so because adults think that they are the best and they know more than others; they have to have the control. In reality, however, they always make everything complicated. I think giving children control would be a great solution to the troubling situation in the world today, but the children would have many enemies.
Ho-Geun Kim from Korea If children ruled the world, it would change and be absolutely different than it is now. In some ways, it would be better and, in other ways it would be worse. First of all, it would be like a big trash pile because children don't put anything away. The world would be messier and full of lost things. Second, the rate of development would be slower because children want something just for joy and are apt to ignore something related to world development. Third, the world would experience more humorous trial and error because children don't think as carefully as adults do. Fourth, children might ignore adults because adults don't have any power. Adults could feel lonely, and some of them might try to commit suicide due to their situation. But on the other hand, the world would not be filled with trickery, cheating, war, drugs, and crime. Children's souls are much cleaner and purer than adults', so we could live more safely than we do now. This is a good point. If the adults would keep children's souls in their mind when they ruled the world, it would be a lot better than it is now and I wish our rulers were like this.
Carmen Caffarena from Spain There is no way that children could rule the world. The world would be a disaster unless an adult were behind every child. If children were in the Congress, they would talk just about funny things, and they would play all the time. If they were bank directors, they would spend all the money on games, parks, candies or parties. The parents would be punished by their children if they ruled the world.
Renata Pauperio from Brazil If children ruled the world, it would be a total mess, but at least a really fun place to live in. Adults, for sure, would have to work, not to receive money, but toys, candies and chocolate. It would be a great payment, wouldn't it? But children would have really bad behavior if they received no education, and then what would happen when they became adults? They would receive orders from other children, and it would be kind of funny because adult people wouldn't have to be concerned with world problems; it would be the children's job. And children would find everything like a big game, like playing, and never be stressed about it. Things would be very easy if we thought this way.
Minjung Song from Korea If children ruled the world, most schools or classes would disappear. Children would behave like adults and be hard to discipline. If it happened, adults might be blamed for all bad things in society. Children might attack adults for low hiring, political problems, and educational problems. Most adults wouldn't be pleased with this situation. Children would be happier than they are now, but the situation wouldn't be natural. If children ruled the world, we might lose our real children. They couldn't enjoy their youth and experience, and many other things except studying. The world would be rough and wild if this ever happened.
Turhan Ece from Turkey If children ruled the world, there would be no war and people would live peacefully. If children administered the world, most laws and rules would be designed by children. Of course, adults would interact with this situation. If children ruled the families, the parents would be angry and unhappy. There is a children's day in Turkey. Every April 23, this is a national festival. Children visit our president, prime minister, the chairmen of parliaments, and all the managers of official workplaces. When they visit them, children become the president, the prime minister, etc. for a short time (a couple of minutes), and they order something about children's rights. When I was watching them on TV, I thought it was very funny because they talk about very interesting issues. I think the world should be managed by adults, but adults should think peacefully and give children rights.
Yongping Li from China What if children ruled the world? It might be very interesting. The whole world would be changed completely. There would be only cartoons when you went to a theater. There might be many parks which were full of toys. All the prohibitions for children would be applied to adults. "Under 18" would be changed to "over 18." Parents couldn't educate their children. Kids might spank adults because of their misbehavior. No one would like to be adults, and parents would feel very sad.
Naomi Takahashi from Japan What would happen if children ruled the world? If children ruled the world, it would be a serious problem. Children wouldn't be able to control their ideas by themselves, and they would destroy themselves in the future because they wouldn't have a purpose. Adults would feel disappointed in their future, and the world would become an unhappy place. Wars would happen everywhere. Human society would be destroyed, and , worst of all, human beings would be exterminated. However, every child would become an adult in the future. When some of the children who ruled the the world grew up, they might change their minds and build a new society. Then, in a sense, life might be better.
Sabrina Volante from Venezuela If children were the rulers of the world, adults would feel so bad because they the children would not have enough life experience to solve problems. Many parents would receive orders from their children. If children had control of the world, they would think only about toys and would build many toy stores and places where children could play instead of building serious things. If children had a lot of power in the world, life would be worse because they would do everything they can't do without power. Maybe they would become greedy and their behavior would be uncontrollable.
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