In my attempt to understand the concept of Children's Day (Día del Niño) which seems to be a big deal in many Latin American countries, I took to the Internet. I found out that Children's Day is an idea adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954. The main message of this day is to recognize children, pay homage to their importance in society, and endorses their well being. Politically speaking, the idea of Children's Day was enforced to promote the rights of all children around the world.

The Declaration of Rights of a Child, simply put:

1. All children have the right to what follows, no matter what their race, color sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, or where they were born or who they were born to.

2. You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal way, free and with dignity.

3. You have a right to a name and to be a member of a country.

4. You have a right to special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical services.

5. You have the right to special care if handicapped in any way.

6. You have the right to love and understanding, preferably from parents and family, but from the government where these cannot help.

7.You have the right to go to school for free, to play, and to have an equal chance to develop yourself and to learn to be responsible and useful. Your parents have special responsibilities for your education and guidance.

8. You have the right always to be among the first to get help.

9. You have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation, e.g. you shall not be obliged to do work which hinders your development both physically and mentally. You should not work before a minimum age and never when that would hinder your health, and your moral and physical development.

10. You should be taught peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people.

I completely and totally agree with these rights granted to all children around the world and further, would personally work vehemently to always ensure that children are protected from any and all types of harm. In addition, I agree with the general mission of the UN's General Assembly's purpose behind promoting a Children's Day: "a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children."

Truly it's a great principle, great mission, aims to teach great values and promotes the fraternity among children and the safekeeping of all children. What cold be wrong with Children's Day??

I'll tell you: the retailers and their aim to make you feel like a guilty mofo if you don't go out and get your kids presents they've come to expect. These retailers, and their marketing strategy, aim to make you out as the best parent/uncle/grandparent/cousin/friend/what-have-you if you buy the child the latest and greatest gadget "available only at XYZ store" and for a "limited time." The underlying message here is that if you don't go out and buy said toy or gadget, you're weird and plain wicked for not appreciating kids and how important they are to society.

Oh but the retailers aren't at fault, really. Society believes the hype as we believe the hype about Christmas and birthdays and Valentine's Day. If you were to encounter someone who say, never celebrated birthdays or gave gifts on someone's birthday, I'm sure we'd all conclude the guy/woman is a nut and carry on our merry way. In this case, I'm the nut because in the States, I don't recall ever celebrating - or even hearing about - Children's Day. As I got older and began to work in the children's entertainment industry, from a revenue generating level, I welcomed Children's Day in other territories as a prime time to make some "holiday" cash by selling our goods and helping my bottom line. See? Even I succumbed to the hype surrounding Children's Day, only it was from the worst angle possible! Using their desires to generate income for a business purpose. Ugly, to say the least.

From a more objective perspective one thing is decidedly clear: based on the advertisements I see on tv and in print, it appears that the Chilean retailers don't embrace the true nature of Children's Day. Perhaps they don't because the consumer goes out and buys what's necessary because it's what has always occurred and what's expected. I certainly get the retailer side of things and the fact that it's all based on the general public's actions and needs. I wonder if I'll even see some kind of organized activity that truly embraces the nature of Children's Day as the UN General Assembly had hoped: promoting fraternity and understanding between children.

Obviously I'm the big weirdo fighting the power here, and I'm ok with that. I stated on Facebook that I was anti-Children's Day and I'm sure more people than not thought I was a b*tch for writing that. The thing is, I'm fine with being a weirdo because after some researching, I'm even more adamant about NOT going out and buying kids gifts this coming Sunday! Yes it's partly due to having never celebrated Children's Day growing up (though believe it or not, there IS an actual date dedicated to this back home) and yes, it's partly due to not having kids of my own. But having worked in the children's entertainment field, I can completely and totally attest that this day is nothing more than a marketing scheme embraced by retailers and all companies that make and sell children's products. They all want to make a buck off you. Sorry dear parents, but it's true. Much like Christmas and what it's become to those who aren't really celebrating family and/or the birth of Jesus Christ.

Someday in the future this will become a point of contention between G and me. We're taking his kids snowboarding this weekend, which in my humble, non-parent opinion should suffice as celebration for their contribution to society and their mere existence. But of course, we were at the mall yesterday and he got them each a gift for Sunday as well. So be it. They aren't my kids and I'm not about to force my wild opinions on him and influence how he is as a father to them.

But trust me. Someday with my own kids I hope to make Children's Day more about getting along with other kids and less about what the hell I can buy them at Falabella or Jumbo.

Call me crazy.

Labels: future, G, Jumbo, marketing