From Communism to Capitalism: Reveal the Role of Government in Child Development

Back then, the idea of marxism had become the dream of many youths in Eastern Europe, while the idea of “Liberte” sailed from Paris to New York. These two things create their own phenomenon, marxism sparked a revolt by the workers against the employers, whereas liberalism inspires resistance to tyranny by the youth. Besides that, in the middle of Indonesian archipelago, an idea was born from the thoughts of the ancestors, they call it “Pancasila”. Just like what happens in other places, Pancasila has its own impact. Its existence inspires the Indonesians to move together for the sake of the nation in the midst of existing differences. Based on these facts, we can see that political ideology has a great influence on the state of society. Furthermore, in most countries, this political ideology is then developed into a system of government. With this development, namely as a system of government, the impact that spreads to the community is increasingly real and widespread. These impacts spread to various sectors, ranging from economic to social.

One of the sectors that cannot escape from the impact of the government system is children, especially child development. In this regard, questions arise, What is the role of government on children? What system of government is best for child development? What efforts should be made by the government to maximize child development?

Government and Children: How are the Two Connected?

When it comes to child development, the one party who is often considered the most influential is the parents. The statement is not wrong, but it is wiser to take into account other parties, one of which is the government. Whether we realize it or not, the government has a significant role in the development of children, starting from guaranteeing their legal rights, ensuring the welfare of children, to creating ideal conditions for child development.

Guaranteeing the legal rights of a child is one of the most important roles of government in child development. Meanwhile, this legal right refers to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which was adopted in 1989 and has been approved by 194 countries. This convention states that children are not objects owned by their parents. Instead, they are human beings with rights of their own. Therefore, they deserve to grow up with opportunities to learn, play and develop with dignity [1].

After years of being implemented by many countries in the world, this convention has proven to have quite a positive impact. First, after the adoption of this convention, it can be seen that there are developments in legal reform. Several countries have established specific rules regarding children’s rights in their national constitutions. Furthermore, it is also stated that there is an increasing number of independent institutions related to human rights for children. Since the 90s, there have been at least 60 new institutions. This has a positive impact because the establishment of these institutions can better guarantee the implementation of children’s rights. Finally, it was also reported that this convention encourages the emergence of special coordination mechanisms related to the implementation of children’s rights in several countries. The impact tends to be positive since it can create a government that is committed to children [2].

The role of the government does not stop there, one role that is also important is ensuring the welfare of children. This welfare can be achieved through several ways, one of which is education. One sector that is allegedly significant in child development and closely related to the government is early childhood education. In short, early childhood education is an educational program that is oriented towards the development of children at a crucial stage in a person’s life, namely the age of two to eight years [3]. Based on research conducted by the UK department of education, early childhood education has been shown to provide positive results on the cognitive and socio-emotional development of children [4]. The statement is proven in Australia after a series of investments in early childhood education by the Australian government since 2009, including the allocation of $61.1 million to support early childhood education and various policy changes such as setting quality standards for child care. At least, Australia has received three benefits from this investment, namely supporting the implementation of healthy child development, better transitioning of children into the formal education system, and creating equity of access to developmental opportunities during early childhood, which helps overcome disadvantage and its longer-term social consequences [5].

Lastly, an equally important role is creating ideal conditions for child development. Furthermore, these conditions can be in the form of political, social, or economic conditions of a country. The real example can be referred to the Great Recession that occurred in the United States from 2007 to 2009. At that time, the unemployment rate of parents increased, they struggled financially, resulting in a reduction in the quality of nutrition, care, and attention needed by children. As the impact, some children who have grown up during this period have experienced a great deal of instability in their lives. This lack of security and continuity can have deep and lasting impacts on children’s development physically, emotionally, and cognitively [6].

Communism and Capitalism: Comparing Children at Opposite Poles

Based on the explanation in the previous section, it can be seen that the government does play a crucial role in the development of children. However, given the fact that not every country has the same system of government, questions such as “what is the impact of each system on children?” or “what system is best for child development?” become inevitable. Of course, all systems have their effects, but the comparison between two opposing systems, such as communism and capitalism, is interesting to discuss.

First, let’s talk about communism. However, to know more about the relationship between communism and child development, it is necessary to first know the meaning of communism. In short, communism is a system that seeks to build a society based on solidarity and the fulfillment of needs. That is, in communism, private property rights are not recognized and are replaced by common ownership instead [7]. Meanwhile, in education, apart from learning science, countries with a communist system also emphasize the indoctrination of communist ideology. As was the case in Poland prior to the educational reforms of 1954/1955, this indoctrination was often followed by exaggeration of communism and an exaggerated denigration of capitalism. As a result, students become unable to assess the real conditions objectively. In addition, due to the teaching pattern that emphasizes too much fearfulness and obedience, children are proven to lack critical thinking and curiosity [8].

Meanwhile, economically, countries with communist systems tend to have stagnant economic growth. This statement refers to the economic conditions that occurred in the Soviet Union in the period 1970–1975 and 1975–1980. In the period 1970–1975, the GNP growth of the Soviet Union was only 3.7%, while it was 2.6% in the period 1975–1980 [9]. The economic stagnation caused a decline in the quality of life in the Soviet Union which was already lower than in some countries. As a result, there is a shortage of food and necessities [10]. In this case, the children become one of the affected parties based on the reason that the country’s unfavorable economic conditions will directly affect children as described in the previous section.

Besides its negative impact, communism is not always a negative thing. In theory, communism brings equality to all members of society. Meaning, if implemented according to theory, communism can provide comprehensive access to the whole society, including education and health in it. So, even children with poor economic conditions can still enjoy the health and education facilities that other children experience [11].

Next, it’s time for us to explore the other pole, namely capitalism. In general, capitalism is an economic system in which private actors own and control property in accord with their interests, and demand and supply freely set prices in markets in a way that can serve the best interests of society [12]. Because the supply and demand mechanism is purely determined by the market, including supply and demand from workers, capitalist countries are prone to the practice of child labour. This vulnerability arises when there is a shortage of labor supply in the market. No nonsense, the statement refers to what is happening in the United States. Due to the lack of labor supply that occurred, McDonald’s in Oregon opened a job opening for a 14-year-old child [13]. Child labor is a serious problem, its impact cannot be taken lightly. At least, there are some negative impacts from child labour, including lack of schooling results in missing educational qualifications and competition of children with adult workers that leads to depressing wages and salaries [14].

However, just like communism, capitalism also has its advantages. Capitalism opens wider opportunities for people to carry out economic activities in the market. This is contrary to what happened in the era before capitalism, where the family became the center of economic activity so that family productivity was the main orientation. As a result, the family prioritizes the number of children to support this productivity, resulting in the quality of development of each child neglected. With capitalism, the number of children in the family decreases so that parents can focus more on investing in the education and health of each child [15].

Open Letter to the Government: This is What You Should Do!

When talking about children, the discussion does not stop at the welfare of children, but also the welfare of the country in the future. This statement is based on the fact that children with certain qualities today are human resources for their country in the future. Given this, the quality of child development is very important for a country. Knowing that the government has a significant role in the quality of child development, we can conclude that there are many things that the government can do to ensure this quality. In this case, efforts that can be made by the government to maximize the quality of child development include creating child-oriented public policies, educating parents about good parenting, and running support programs for families.

Creating child-oriented public policies can be done by designing policies that encourage non-cognitive skills in children, such as creativity, problem solving, and critical thinking. If owned by today’s children, these skills are believed to be able to increase worker productivity in the future. Meanwhile, this can be done by designing the educational curriculum to promote these skills or make sure teachers are qualified to instill these skills in children [16].

Next, educating parents about good parenting. It is no longer a secret that the parenting pattern of parents greatly determines the condition of the child. In this case, the government can educate good parenting patterns to ensure the child’s condition is guaranteed. Meanwhile, this can be done in several ways, including holding a monthly magazine on parenting, conducting regular home visits, and conducting intensive training for parents regarding parenting. Some of these efforts have been carried out in the United States and have shown a positive impact on parental knowledge [17].

Lastly, running support programs for families. The implementation can refer to the supporting families program that has been implemented in the United Kingdom. Because of the supporting families programme’s debut in 2011, families and communities in the UK have gained an enormous amount of support, with up to £1.533 billion in funds made available since its inception. Between 2015 and 2021, the initiative assisted more than 400,000 families in achieving positive outcomes through various means [18]. As a result, the welfare of the family will clearly encourage improvements in child development.

Oleh: Izza Maulana Rizqi
Staff Biro Jurnalistik
SNF FEB UI 2021–2022

Referensi

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Costa-Font, J., García-Hombrados, J., & Nicińska, A. (2020). Long-Lasting Effects of Communist Indoctrination in School: Evidence from Poland. https://docs.iza.org/dp13944.pdf

Garcia, E. (2016, August 24). Making whole-child education the norm: How research and policy initiatives can make social and emotional skills a focal point of children’s education. Economic Policy Institute. https://www.epi.org/publication/making-whole-child-education-the-norm/#epi-toc-1

Griffith, K. (2021, September 3). McDonald’s, Burger King hiring 14-year-olds amid dire labor shortage. Mail Online. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9955077/McDonalds-Burger-King-locations-hiring-14-year-olds-amid-dire-labor-shortage.html

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Jahan, S., & Mahmud, A. S. (2015, June). What Is Capitalism? — Back to Basics — Finance & Development, June 2015. Imf.org. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2015/06/basics.htm

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