It was recently reported that a Kelantanese man aged 41 years old married a girl aged 11 years old and this issue has caught many people’s attention. In a world with developing society and humanity, the child marriage issue should be taken seriously in order to protect the children’s rights and to ensure that the children’s body and mind development are well taken care of.A consulting psychologist, Ms. Lee Li Li, had recently appeared on Ai FM 89.3/106.7 on 4th July 2018 (Wednesday) to discuss the child marriage issue.
Child marriage has negative impacts on the children’s rights, safety, and quality of life. In addition to that, child marriage imposes a huge psychological stress on children who undergo marriage at a young age.
According to a famous psychologist named Erik Erikson, children at the age ranging from 7 to 12 are in a stage where learning new skills and knowledge is important to the children. With adequate skills and knowledge, they will have the ability to face different challenges that they will face when they grow up. The following stage named as the adolescence stage, to which teenagers at the age of 12 to 18 belong, is where teenagers will experience changes in their body and mind. The teenagers pay more attention to their sense of identity and their outward presentation. Questions such as “What is my identity?”, “What kind of a person I want to become?” and “What do other people think of me?” are the ones that the teenagers frequently think about. Also, in order to step into adulthood, working life and to start a family, teenagers have to be more mature by undergoing different types of learning and by exploring more.
Back to the child marriage issue, if the child who is undergoing marriage at a young age has not reached or is stepping into the adolescence stage, their education and life will be affected. They are not able to focus on their education and thus there is a possibility of them ending their study. Due to the inadequacy of learning and capability, they feel huge amount of psychological stress when they face life challenges. In response to that, they might feel regret due to the reason that they did not have adequate understanding of themselves and of life when they decided to get married. Or, if they have to accept their fate against their will, they become depressed and there might be a possibility that their psychological development will be seriously hindered.
How does the child face varieties of problems if they don't have the chance to learn and develop due to being married at a young age? Although they could ask for help from their family, there is a limit on the amount of help provided by the family. Also, they might not want to trouble their family from keeping to ask for help. For the case of a girl involved in child marriage, she might not even be allowed by her in-laws to tell her family about the problems that she is facing. As a result, they feel frustrated instead of happy. Another concern is that how will the child deal with domestic violence if it happens to them?
Family crisis might arise due to psychological instability and lack of life experience and, as a result, the harmony and stability of the family will be negatively affected. This can lead to them not being able to raise and educate their children or the next generation.
With the Statements stated above, child marriage is not suitable for children because it might do more harm than good to the children.
Thank you for reading.
Child marriage has negative impacts on the children’s rights, safety, and quality of life. In addition to that, child marriage imposes a huge psychological stress on children who undergo marriage at a young age.
According to a famous psychologist named Erik Erikson, children at the age ranging from 7 to 12 are in a stage where learning new skills and knowledge is important to the children. With adequate skills and knowledge, they will have the ability to face different challenges that they will face when they grow up. The following stage named as the adolescence stage, to which teenagers at the age of 12 to 18 belong, is where teenagers will experience changes in their body and mind. The teenagers pay more attention to their sense of identity and their outward presentation. Questions such as “What is my identity?”, “What kind of a person I want to become?” and “What do other people think of me?” are the ones that the teenagers frequently think about. Also, in order to step into adulthood, working life and to start a family, teenagers have to be more mature by undergoing different types of learning and by exploring more. Back to the child marriage issue, if the child who is undergoing marriage at a young age has not reached or is stepping into the adolescence stage, their education and life will be affected. They are not able to focus on their education and thus there is a possibility of them ending their study. Due to the inadequacy of learning and capability, they feel huge amount of psychological stress when they face life challenges. In response to that, they might feel regret due to the reason that they did not have adequate understanding of themselves and of life when they decided to get married. Or, if they have to accept their fate against their will, they become depressed and there might be a possibility that their psychological development will be seriously hindered. How does the child face varieties of problems if they don't have the chance to learn and develop due to being married at a young age? Although they could ask for help from their family, there is a limit on the amount of help provided by the family. Also, they might not want to trouble their family from keeping to ask for help. For the case of a girl involved in child marriage, she might not even be allowed by her in-laws to tell her family about the problems that she is facing. As a result, they feel frustrated instead of happy. Another concern is that how will the child deal with domestic violence if it happens to them? Family crisis might arise due to psychological instability and lack of life experience and, as a result, the harmony and stability of the family will be negatively affected. This can lead to them not being able to raise and educate their children or the next generation.
With the Statements stated above, child marriage is not suitable for children because it might do more harm than good to the children. Thank you for reading.
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