The history of literature can be traced to the earliest forms
of the arts. Man danced for joy round his primitive camp fire after the defeat
and slaughter of his enemy. He yelled and shouted as he danced and gradually
the yells and shouts became coherent and caught the measure of the dance and
thus the first war song was sung. As the idea of God developed, prayers were
framed. The songs and prayers became traditional and wee repeated from one
generation to another, each generation adding something of its own.
As man slowly grew more civilized, he was compelled to
invent some method of writing due to three urgent necessities. There were
certain things that it was dangerous to forget and which, therefore, had to be
recorded. It was often necessary to communicate with persons who were some
distance away and it was necessary to safeguard one’s property by making appropriate
tools and taking protective measure in a distinctive manner. So man taught
himself to write and having learned to write, purely for utilitarian reasons,
he used this new method for preserving his was songs and his prayers. Of
course, among these ancient peoples, there were only a very few individuals who
learned to write, and only few could read what was written.
Q: The first war-song
Through the U.S. prides itself on behing a leader in the
world community, a recent report shows that it lags far behind other industrialized
countries in meeting the needs of its youngest and most vulnerable citizens.
The U.S. has a higher infant mortality rate, a higher proportion of low birth
weight babies, a smaller proportion of babies immunized against childhood
diseases and a much higher rate adolescent pregnancies. These findings,
described as a quiet crisis requiring immediate and far-reaching action,
appeared in a report prepared by a task force of educators, doctors,
politicians and business people. According to the report, a fourth of the
nation’s 12 infants and toddlers live in poverty. As many as half confront risk
factors that could harm their ability to develop intellectually, physically and
socially. Child immunizations are too low, more children are born into poverty,
more are in substandard care while their parents work and more are being raised
by single parents When taken together, these and other risk factor can lead to
educational and health problems that are much harder and more costly to
reverse.
The crisis beings in the womb with unplanned parenthood.
Women with unplanned pregnancies are less likely to seek pre-natal care. In the
U.S. 80% of teenage pregnancies and 56% of all pregnancies are unplanned. The
problems continue after birth where unplanned pregnancies and unstable
partnerships often go hand in hand. Since 1950, the number of single parent
families had nearly tripled. More than 25 percent of all births today are to unmarried
mothers. As the number of single parent families grows and more women enter the
work force, infants and toddlers are increasingly in the care of people other
than their parents.
Most disturbingly, recent statistics show that American
parents are increasingly neglecting or abusing their children. In only four
years from 1987-1991, the number of children in foster care increased by over
50 percent. Babies under the age of one are the fastest growing category of
children entering foster care. The crisis affects children under the age of
three most severely the report says. Yet, it is this period-from infancy
through preschool years- that sets the stage for a child’s future.
Children falling in which age group are most severely affected by the quite crisis?
