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^ A 3-year-old competes dressed as an astronaut in a space shuttle in the Haunted Heats Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California, on October 29, 2016.
World Children's Day is coming up next week. So this would be a great time to ponder, and an answer seek, As to what makes a child precious; strong-willed as well as meek.
^ A boy plays inside a scrapped car on a beach along the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, on November 1.
The drive to succeed isn't inherited at birth. Nature need to be kickstarted by nurture and mirth. Without parental approbation, how is a child to know what they are worth?
^ A demonstrator is hit by a jet of water released from a riot police vehicle as they clash during a strike against the national pension system in Santiago, Chile, on November 4.
Children get a bad rap — Mischief-mongers all, they are deemed, every scamp and every brat. But how about full-grown men who strike each other with water cannons that go splat?
^ Mike Williams, owner of the Alpine Target Golf Center, shows off his swing at a driving range with hay bales covered with the portraits of U.S. presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, which are used as a mock polling station, at Alpine Target Golf Center in Longview, Texas, on November 2.
Indeed, when two parties stake claim to rule the free world, You expect the discussion and debates to not make your blood curl. Instead, the voter is forced to choose based on childish ad-hominem insults hurled.
^ A displaced Iraqi boy leads his animals to safety after escaping from the Islamic-State-controlled village of Abu Jarboa during clashes with IS militants near Mosul, Iraq, on November 1.
And who really gets hurt from all this power-hungry greed? The future generations — will they truly get what they need? Or will there be no more fertile ground left — once the powerful desert the world — to plant another seed?
^ An Iraqi displaced boy is seen through the smashed window of a car as he flees with his family from Kokjali village during a battle with IS militants near Mosul, on November 3.
Aylan, Omran, and a bunch of young boys with the potential to be great, Sacrificed on the altar of adult immaturity. And with so much at stake, Can we afford to corrupt their budding vision, a prism of fear that won't abate?
^ The Eiffel tower is illuminated in green with the words "Paris Agreement is Done", to celebrate the Paris U.N. COP21 Climate Change agreement in Paris, France, November 4.
All this while, the adults work on global policies, Tall claims and towering promises, Congratulating one another on the delegation and relegation of responsibilities.
^ A banded mongoose plays with a Halloween pumpkin at a zoo in Chongqing, China, on October 29.
But really, till power stops being the primary care Of world leaders and politicians, to hope for peace the children may not even dare. Like a mongoose with its head stuck in a nightmare.
^ A safari zookeeper catches pelicans to move them to their winter enclosure at Dvur Kralove Zoo, in the Czech Republic, on November 2.
And as parents, how do you explain to your wards That it may be a world of scarcity, but inequality should never be on the cards. Muzzling one set of hungry beaks and extending tax-credits to another is quite the farce.
^ A seagull flies past the Houses of Parliament in central London, Britain, on November 2.
Birds should fly, aloof of the politics and instabilities below them, Unruffled by — though not oblivious to — the limitations to their forward motion. Young minds need to roam free. But how is one to gambol when one doesn't have a totem?
^ A boy does physical exercises during military training at a boot camp of the Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) military patriotic club in the village of Sengileyevskoye, in Russia, on November 2.
Boys will be boys, soldiers will be soldiers. Teach the boy to strive for himself, and how to soul-search. A nation can thrive only on strong young shoulders.
(All images courtesy Reuters)
