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The next time you walk down a public street, count the number of children brandishing a new toy.  Then count the number of children putting money in a charity tin.  Most children have little idea of the poverty that other people must live in, or even that there are people in poverty.

This is not the children's fault, it is the fault of parents and teachers who don't tell them.  Adults might argue that exposing young children to the harsher facts of life would confuse them.  But I wonder how many have ever tried, and if they don't try how will they ever know?  Instead, children are more and more likely to get whatever they want, when they want, where they want, all the time.

Parents will give in to constant pleading rather than endure their child's tears.

As people get wealthier, their lives become more stable, and the fear of dying from dirty water, diseases, or dirty conditions lessens, they forget about others who aren't so fortunate.  In the past the church taught children about moral values, and while I'm not religious myself, I think that we need to learn about poverty and suffering so that we can realise how lucky we are.

The contrast between the situation of children affected by the tsunami in south east Asia, and many children in this country who woke up to heaps of Christmas presents, was very stark.  But how can children, the leaders of the future, help other people, and be thankful for what they themselves have, if they are not even made aware of the problem?

Fraser Embleton-Smith, age 11