EDITORIAL - Kids in harm's way

A newspaper photo last Monday shows a disturbing scene that begs the question: What is the government doing? As the photo caption says, "nine-year-old (The Freeman is withholding the name of the minor) of Yaw Yan ArDigma Cebu punishing his opponent (we are also withholding the minor opponent's name) of Durex Dragon KBC in the children's division of the Cebu Extreme Fight League at the Cebu Coliseum."

Nine-year-olds? Extreme Fight League? We have nothing against extreme martial arts despite its violence. But our acquiescence to this violent sport is born of the fact that they involve adult athletes who already know fully well what they are getting into. But minors engaging in extreme fights? What redeeming qualities can this type of sport, if it can be called that, have for very young kids?

A minor is somebody who is below the legal age of 18. But let us just limit ourselves to nine-year-olds because that is the age of at least one of the young protagonists depicted in the disturbing photo. As far as anybody is concerned, a nine-year-old cannot vote and cannot marry. He cannot go inside a bar even if just to look around. He cannot go on a school field trip without a parent's consent. Why, he cannot even watch an R-13 movie?

There are so many things that a nine-year-old cannot do, not because he cannot actually do them, but because both society and the state have determined that they are not to his best interest to be allowed to do them. In other words, a nine-year-old belongs to an age that must, by law, be protected. And yet here they are, being allowed to take part in a public spectacle inside a coliseum full of screaming adults, to try and "punish" each other.

Only very recently, Cebu was witness to two spectacles involving minors whose rights as minors were unequivocably upheld by the law. One was a 14-year-old girl who was caught in possession of P6 million worth of shabu. The other was a 16-year-old girl who tried to make off with clothes stolen from a mall boutique. In both instances, the law looked away from very clear and obvious criminal activities because those involved were minors.

We are not against children in sports. In fact we encourage it. Sports offers tremendous benefits for the young. It promotes health, discipline, self-respect, and a healthy regard for one's opponent -- values that will serve the young as they grow older and become productive members of their respective communities. Sports is a great starting point for future leaders.

But when you involve very young children in extreme sports which demand that one protagonist inflict extreme punishment on the other in order to win, what exactly are we trying to make of our children? What values are we teaching them? There is no shortage of healthy, safe, and values-forming sports out there that we can make very young children engage in. Extreme sports should not be one of them. Let us reserve this sport to when they are old enough to know what they're getting into.

Not too long ago, the nation was in an uproar over the death of a student athlete in a state-sanctioned boxing match. That was boxing, still a contact sport, but whose practice is supposed to be government by stringent rules on safety. Nevertheless, the death so shocked the nation that the sport is no longer allowed in a certain age bracket in state-sponsored athletic meets. Maybe the state should also take a look at extreme sports for the extremely young.