Everyone in this world was born of a mother. A mother’s love for her children cannot be compared with anything else. No one can take the place of a mother in a child’s life. Every mother is compassionate towards her children even if she is not well off to support them fully. The great love that mothers have pushes them to go beyond all odds to improve the standards of living of their children. In some cases, children may think that they were abandoned because their mother never loved or cared for them. Unless such children get a guardian, their feelings may be badly hurt by the absence of their mothers. The mothers’ decision to leave their children for abroad in search of greener pastures is a humanitarian issue. Young children are vulnerable to abuse, maltreatment, and torture. Individuals and institutions have to device ways of preventing mothers from being separated from their children. Young children deserve tender love and motherly care at that small age. Humanitarian institutions have a task to find solutions to this situation. Children are often happy and feel secure when their mothers are around even when there is nothing much to eat.
A high rate of poverty in Central America has led to the women abandoning their children. Every woman wants a better future for her children. As a result, they opt to travel abroad seeking better opportunities. The women who flee to the United States do so with good intentions. The main agenda is normally to get a well-paying job to support the entire family. However, the children who are left behind will suffer adversely. For instance, a kid might become lonely desperate, and feeling rejected or unworthy in the family. More so, the separation between the mother and her children hinder familiarities between them. Therefore, it is not prudent or just for women to abandon their children in search of a better future.
The complexity of the matter
The decision of mothers to flee to the developed countries in search of better job opportunities and at the expense of the children is complex in nature. For instance, the first and the best role model of a child is his or her mother. Mothers have the responsibility to support their children including raising them up. The presence of a mother shapes the child’s ability to distinguish between good and bad behavior. Although a mother may not have the potential to cater for all her children’s needs, she has to be there physically to offer care, love, and support. Mothers have the duty to raise their children into responsible adults. As much as women would love to spend all the time with their kids, they have to ensure those children have a guaranteed future. As a result, most of the Latino women choose to leave their sons and daughters with friends and relatives as they immigrate to the United States. According to Nazario, such decisions cause emotional trauma to the mother and child. The decision is one of the most difficult to undertake.
Some children are left when they are too young to recall the face of their parents. Nazario describes the state of such children. Most of the children will keep staring at their mothers’ portraits. Others may use their mothers’ beddings, clothes, and deodorants trying to recall any memory. Most women who come to the United States do so in a goodwill. The women will work hard and send enough money at home to support the children. However, all the gifts and money send from abroad does not take away the loneliness in a child’s heart. Every kid would wish to have their mothers around. Young children are too little to understand the struggle that parents go through for their sake. The only thing the children can do is to blame the parent for staying away for so long and allowing them to suffer. Most of the kids from Central America were left at very tender age thus lacking self-control. Loneliness becomes so vivid and disturbing once the starts to flashback how their mothers used to prepare them for school, feed, and bathing. Whenever anything wrong happens, the children wish that their mothers were around to comfort and protect them.
On the contrary, the opponents of the assertion argue that no one should complain as long as each one benefits. For instance, the mother chooses to abandon the children, each will gain o lose something. The mother makes money and becomes rich while the children receive cash and other gifts that improve their standards of living.
However, Nazario argues that no amount of cash can change what the children feel about the absence of their mother. Although the mother might have been working hard to cover up for the period she has been away, the child still develops anger becoming resentful. Everyone expects their sons or daughters to appreciate their effort instead of reacting in anger. As a result, the mothers get disappointed though it is not the child’s fault to behave in such a manner. Anger results from the belief that any woman who loves her children would never leave them at a tender age. The long period of separation between the child and the mother also create distrust among them. Most children believe that if their mother was caring as she claims, she would not have left them to suffer alone. The child cannot comprehend that her decisions were meant for his or her benefit. The mother also cannot understand why the child is so angry, rude, and rebellious. The women who make decisions to go abroad do so painfully. None of them likes the fact that they have to leave their families behind first. The poor mothers have no options but to fly abroad for the sake of their children. Such decisions are influenced by the fact that women do not wish their children to live a substandard life. However, none of these women are justified to abandon their children because, in the end, the mothers stand to lose child’s love and trust.
The absence of parents causes children’s behavior to change. When a mother is not around to guide and comfort their children, they even become rebellious. Loneliness and emptiness fill the heart of children whose mother is not around. Normally, the child must look for a way to deal with the void heart. Consequently, the child might join a secret gang with hidden missions. The kid can also be influenced to engage in drug abuse.
Conclusion
The decision by women to leave for abroad for greener pastures is one of the most controversial issues. The matter is complex as it involves tough but timely directions. The women might be going to America for a genuine reason. However, the impacts on the child are very severe such abandoning them must be prohibited by humanitarian institution or personnel. The gains from abroad cannot compensate the harm that the mother is not aware. Therefore, it is not right for women to leave their children.
