CURRENT ISSUE : BABY DUMPING

Children are priceless gift from Allah SWT. Allah gives them right to live and their parents being responsible to grow them up and tarbiyyah them. However, people nowadays ignore their responsibility towards their children and more worst lead to social problems.  Lately, babies dumping happen almost everyday. Refer to cases that had been reported the cases had already achieved average of thousands per year. This problem has become as a major issue in Malaysia. As community in Malaysia, we should give concern about this matter. Why could this happen?  Who is to be responsible to overcome this problem?

What is actually baby dumping.  It is the situation when a person who left this priceless gift, discarding or leaving them alone, for an extended period of time. Baby dumping basically involved a child younger than 12 months of age. They were discarded and left in a public or private setting with intention to dispose the child.

Mostly, among teenagers seems to be always involved in this crime. Free lifestyle could lead them to astray in this social problem. Teenage parents give birth in a motel and leave the child for dead in a dumpster. Giving birth in a school bathroom and thrown the baby into garbage or in the toilet. These kinds of story which is continuously happen proved that this is one of the most frightening realities or our culture today. Children are viewed as problems to be thrown and burden to their parents rather than accept them as a gift to be treasured.

Another factor is the family break-up. Family break-ups happen after a long period of misunderstandings, fighting and unhappiness. Sometimes they happen suddenly and it is hard to understand why there needs to be change at all. Children are mostly affected by this kind of situation. If both their mother and father decided to a divorce and one cannot raise their child alone, tendency is that they will dump their child.

Poverty is also another factor that causes child dumping. Persons in cultures with poor social welfare systems who are not financially capable of taking care of a child are more likely to dump him/her. Political conditions, such as difficulty in adoption proceedings, may also contribute to child dumping, as can the lack of institutions, such as orphanages, to take in children whom their parents cannot support. Societies with strong social structures and liberal adoption laws tend to have lower rates of child dumping.

Every hardship has its solution. This problem must be prevented from its root. It must be begin with the family institution. I think that the parents should take it serious in order to prevent our generation from this social ill. Baby dumping could be avoided if their children have awareness about the consequences of social ill. It can bring them to do whatever that will ruin their future such as baby dumping and so on.

The government also should responsible to overcome this matter. The government should use their authority to introduce true Islam to the people especially to the Muslim youth. They must be exposed more about halal, haram, good and sin. Our Ulama must take this responsibility to explain to the community about Islam, its beauty and also its rules.

Hence, we could solve this social problem if we emphasis religious teaching from the earlier age as an effort. Also cultivation of true understanding of Islam can save our generation from baby dumping and other social ill.