| Child-Free, not Childless
There are many reasons people choose to be child-free, including
environmental concerns, life priorities, personal situation, health, or
just a dislike of children. Unfortunately our society places a
great deal of pressure on individuals - particularly women - to have
children. It is seen as "normal" to have kids, and if
you decide not to you "must be a freak."
I often say that I hate kids, but that's not entirely true. I
just don't get along with kids or relate to them well. I never
have, not even when I was a child myself- I hung out with the adults, or
alone, seldom with people my own age. When exposed to kids I feel
the same way many people do when exposed to pets they don't like.
I have pets myself - cats, a gecko, and I plan to get a
dog. I don't bring my pets to other's homes, would not bring them
to the mall, and generally don't expect anyone else to have to deal with
them. If you have ever been forcibly exposed to a pet you didn't
like (say, a dog jumping all over you), then you know how I usually feel
around kids.
I'm sure I would love a child if I had one, it's in my nature to be
nurturing, but I would rather not have one. I first decided
not to have kids about 15 years ago, because parenthood did not fit into
the life I wanted. Later my environmental concerns made me feel it
would be irresponsible to contribute to the world's
overpopulation. Seeing all the "accidents" running
around, and the frequent examples of bad parenting has convinced me that
most people need to be more responsible about having children.
Unfortunately you don't need brains or wisdom to reproduce.
I have to wonder why a person who "forgets" to use birth control
gets congratulated on their upcoming parenthood? We seem to
be a little hypocritical in how we reward irresponsible behaviour.
The following links have a wealth of information on being child-free:
Childfree.net*
World
Child-Free Organisation*
Child-Free
By Choice*
alt.support.childfree
Charter and FAQ*
Suite
101 article on Overpopulation*
Wikipedia
entry on Overpopulation*
The Voluntary Human
Extinction Movement*
(*links marked with an asterisk are to an
external site, and open in a new window) |
