Kenapa Orang Tua di Indonesia Lebih Banyak Takut?

Setelah mendadak pindah ke Jepang dengan segala keterbatasan dan perubahan rencana dari menetap hanya untuk tiga bulan menjadi tidak terdefinisi, ternyata banyak juga hal yang bisa dipelajari. Walaupun awalnya nampak serba tidak pasti, pada akhirnya toh bisa juga dijalani. Dari mulai kembali duduk di bangku kuliah (atau eksperimen di bench?) sampai akhirnya memutuskan untuk melanjutkan studi ke bidang yang sama sekali baru, akhirnya sampai juga di titik ini.

Look how far we have come! (patting my self on the back).

Anyway, I was writing an impressions note for a class I took this semester on Child Health Sciences when it hit me. I think I understand (a little) why Indonesian parents worry so much; don't run, don't climb, don't eat dirt, don't to this and that..

But before I explain why, let's read the aforementioned impressions note to get the right context:

In retrospect, I enjoy all sessions of Child Health Sciences course because of how multidisciplinary and well-rounded the materials taught here on what health is defined in children. Through this class, I am amazed to discover how important family nurture and environmental influences are in child mental development. It is true that a healthy child must have a healthy body in the first place, but we can only do so much to dictate nature. There is always possibility of neurodiversity or genetic abnormality that happen de novo—randomly— no matter how careful we are with the planning, pregnancy, and delivery process that will give birth to a baby without the image of what a healthy child should be. But the importance does not lie there. From this class I can confer that a healthy child may not always have a perfect physiological or genetics make up, but a healthy child is always raised in a healthy environment with adequate support psychologically, physically, and emotionally. This idea come from the fact that I learned in this course, which is: a child born with a perfectly healthy body can easily be the victim of abusive parenting or domestic violence, destroying their chance of growing into a healthy individual because epigenetic change is a scientifically proven phenomenon (as well as its reversal). Meanwhile, a child with neurodiversity and genetic abnormalities can live a happy and meaningful life with the right nurturing and adequate support—in another words, they can be achieving things in life like any healthy children may be capable of.

Securing the adequate support and right nurturing for every child health is indeed not an easy task. This needs the involvement of parents, community, and the government to establish an ecosystem where children will develop to their utmost potential. In summary, I learn that a healthy child comes from healthy parents of a healthy family living in a healthy community of a healthy country. 

 

It is pretty clear that Indonesian parents (now, I hope only now) are lacking support from their community, let alone from the government. Thus, they are worried that one wrong move will make their children's life completely go south. I am not saying that the ecosystem in Japan is the best for raising children (trust me, Indonesia is much better in some departments), but I do feel more carefree and confident raising a kid here because for example, I know that if an accident in the park happen, I can easily access healthcare services as quick response ambulance lift is covered in the universal health care scheme. And that is the first step of ensuring the development of healthy children. I am so relieved to see that many parents in Indonesia put more effort in making sure that they are doing parenting right, but it is not enough. A structural effort to guarantee health for children is crucial.