A Faithful Youth

There are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. Every faith follows its own set of rules and regulations and is interpreted differently by every being who follows them.  Out of those 4,200 religions the major world religions are:

• ·             Hinduism
• ·             Buddhism
• ·             Islam
• ·             Christianity

Within these categories are sub categories that range from extreme view/interpretations to more secular and loose interpretations of their beliefs. Between economic status, education, and religion, this category is the most difficult to interpret its affect on children’s limitations due to their variations amongst people. However, the fact that children have no voice when it comes to the faith they must follow in their youth makes it a viable category. Children are in a way forced to follow their parent’s/families faith, and face all the implications that come from following it as well.

Every religion has distinct characteristics.

In Hinduism, Hindus believe their position in this present life was determined by their actions in a previous life. Hinduism, therefore provides a possible explanation for suffering and evil in this life. If a person’s behavior before was evil, they might justifiably experience tremendous hardships in this life. Pain, disease, poverty or a disaster like a flood is deserved by that person because of their own evil actions from a previous lifetime. Hinduism gives a person freedom to choose how to work toward spiritual perfection. There are three possible ways to end this cycle of karma: 1. Be lovingly devoted to any of the Hindu gods or goddesses; 2. Grow in knowledge through meditation of Brahman (oneness)...to realize that circumstances in life are not real, that selfhood is an illusion and only Brahman is real; 3. Be dedicated to various religious ceremonies and rites.

Buddhists do not worship any gods or god. People outside of Buddhism often think that Buddhists worship the Buddha. However, the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) is viewed by Buddhists as having attained what they are also striving to attain, which is spiritual enlightenment and, with it, freedom from the continuous cycle of life and death. Most Buddhists believe a person has countless rebirths, which inevitably include suffering. A Buddhist seeks to end these rebirths. Buddhists believe it is a person's cravings, aversion and delusion that cause these rebirths. Therefore, the goal of a Buddhist is to purify one's heart and to let go of all yearnings toward sensual desires and the attachment to oneself. Buddhists follow a list of religious principles and very dedicated meditation. When a Buddhist meditates it is not the same as praying or focusing on a god, it is more of a self-discipline. Through practiced meditation a person may reach Nirvana -- "the blowing out" of the flame of desire. Buddhism provides something that is true of most major religions: disciplines, values and directives that a person may want to live by.

In the Islamic religion, Muslims believe there is the one almighty God, Allah, who is infinitely superior to and transcendent from humankind. Allah is viewed as the creator of the universe and the source of all good and all evil. Everything that happens is Allah's will. He is a powerful and a strict judge, who will be merciful toward followers depending on the sufficiency of their life's good works and religious devotion. A follower's relationship with Allah is as a servant to Allah. Muhammad, a prophet, is considered the last prophet and his words and lifestyle are that person's authority. To be a Muslim, one has to follow five religious duties: 1. Repeat a creed about Allah and Muhammad; 2. Recite certain prayers in Arabic five times a day; 3. Give to the needy; 4. One month each year, fast from food, drink, sex and smoking from sunrise to sunset; 5. Pilgrimage once in one's lifetime to worship at a shrine in Mecca. At death -- based on one's faithfulness to these duties -- a Muslim hopes to enter Paradise. If not, they will be eternally punished in hell. Muslims believe that giving up one’s life for Allah is a sure way of entering Paradise.

Christians believe in a God who has revealed himself and can be known in a personal way, in this life. With Jesus Christ, the person's focus is not on religious rituals or performing good works, but on enjoying a relationship with God and growing to know him better.

Faith in Jesus Christ himself, the son of god, not just in his teachings, is how the Christian experiences joy and a meaningful life. Christians regard the Bible as God's written message to humankind. Whatever circumstances a Christian is dealing with in their life, the Bible teaches that they can confidently turn to a wise and powerful God who genuinely loves them. They believe that God answers prayer and that life takes on meaning as they live to honor him.

Which religion you follow usually depends on the area you were born in. So for instance, in the U.S the majority of people identify as part of the Christian faith (70.6%) meaning the majority of people abide by the rules of its religious texts and are allowed the freedom it stimulates. Every religion has its good and bad aspects, but, everyone has the opportunity to seek their rightful path nonetheless, for the period of childhood all one knows is the religion infringed upon them by their caretakers which have a lasting affect on the way they lead their lives later on.

The Key to Success

A strong predictor of a successful adulthood is the accessibility to an education in youth.

From an American point of view, living in such a modern world, one would would assume that information and facts are in reach to anyone who wishes to obtain it. However, our counterpart countries would disagree.

Education is something that is readily available to any child in the U.S. Public and private institutions have been implemented as school systems in communities, and the only distinction between the two are for relative reasons such as preference of choice of the parent.

Nonetheless, economic status does not inhibit a child from going to an institution of education. The U.S even has gone as far as implementing the Compulsory School Age Requirement Law, which refers to the minimum and maximum age required by each state in which a student must be enrolled in and attending public school or some equivalent education program defined by the law.

The emphasis on education in the United States is so strong that even children and youth experiencing homelessness have the opportunity and right to attend. Schools would be considered a source of stability, affirmation, and hope for theses kids during a time of chaos and trauma when a young person loses his or her housing.


So, all in all, no child is denied or can be denied the right to an education. On the other hand, this system or set of laws is not consistent to several countries around the world where parents decide whether their children will attend school or not.

At this point in the conversation, the economic status of the child plays a key role in their attendance. In countries of extreme poverty, such as those located in sub-Saharan Africa, southern Asia, and countries conflicted by certain situation (mostly central to the southern Americas) education is not emphasized. Every person in the family who can provide some sort of monetary contribution is vital for their survival, making it impossible to risk the unemployment of one member of the family. People in these situations, from a young age are taught to work rather that educate themselves. This mentality perpetuates an endless cycle of uneducated people for generations to come in those bloodlines making it much more difficult to have any one person in those linages to change their customs from one day to another.  It is a kind of unintentional tunnel vision.

Due to these issues, 25 million children will never go to school.

It is important to note that Investing in education can help a country lift its people out of poverty. Over forty years, equitable access to quality education can help a country raise a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by 23%. Several of these countries who do not emphasize the importance of getting an education had a GDP ranging from $300-$1000 in a 2013 calculation. Such countries include: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Malawi, Afghanistan, etc. 

Another distinction in international countries that incapacitates a child’s ability to go to school is gender. Females have less of a chance, in fact, there are four million more girls than boys who cannot get an education. This not only has a profound effect on the child but on the community as well. For instance, if a child had a mother who can read, they are 50% more likely to survive past the age of five. This is why education should be of equal opportunity to both female and males because lives are actually at stake.

Credits: Koustav Das

The impact of educating girls goes beyond the individual child. Here are a few facts provided by Free The Children non-profitorganization:

•      The impact of school on a woman’s earning power is linked directly to higher economic growth. In developing countries, each additional year of schooling is associated with a 10% to 20% increase in women’s wages.

•      When women and girls earn an income, they re-invest 90% of that income back into their families, as opposed to 30 to 40% for men.

•      Educated girls are more likely to marry later and have fewer children. For example, women in Mali with a secondary school education or higher have an average of three children, while those with no education have an average of seven.

•      Children born to educated mothers are less likely to be malnourished, according to UNESCO. In fact, each additional year a girl goes to school helps reduce the child mortality rate by 2%.

•      Educated girls are less vulnerable to sexual exploitation and to sexually transmitted disease.

In the video above, Kakenya Ntaiya, an activist of educating girls, explains her story and why she contributes to this cause.


In essence, children need structure. Schooling provides that foundation where sometimes it falters at home. The more they learn the better off they are when dealing with difficult decision making later in life and females should be treated with the same urgency to be educated as males because of the role they play in society as primary care givers. For all these reasons and more, education really can be seen as the key to it all and we must start with the youth.