The letter The rights of a child by Sr Jacqueline Jones (TMI, 30 July) is disconcerting and merits careful consideration. Children that would give up their favourite possessions just to hear their mothers say “I love you” or whose dream is to one day “kill or injure” their parents are to be pitied indeed as is the society that has to deal with them.

The question now is, how did these children end up in the situation they are in? It is a fair assumption that children whose birth was eagerly awaited or at least joyfully accepted, will never become residents of a home for children. The children that Sr Jones is trying to help are the unwanted ones whose birth was seen as a major burden or even a disaster by the parent(s). The mother will tell the child: “You ruined my life” rather than “I love you” because that is how she feels.

While Sr Jones’ laudable work is trying to alleviate the symptoms of the births of unwanted children, others are addressing the cause and try to minimise the number of unwanted children being born.

Organisations like Planned Parenthood in the USA do this by providing comprehensive sex education and advocating its inclusion in school curricula, assuring widespread and affordable availability of all kinds of birth control methods and products, including the ‘morning after’ pill and ‘plan B’ pill.

While making more resources available to Sr Jones and the Homes for Children will undoubtedly help, it is worth remembering that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Simon Oosterman

Sliema