Japan's throwaway children

Al Jazeera English

This video investigates a children’s care home in Japan, one of about 600 such institutions in the country. “I feel this way partly because how people look at you - you’re in an institution. When I’m growing up, I should be with my mother, that’s what family is about. Yes there was abuse and violence but my relationship with her will only get worse and awkward if I stay here. Staff aren’t my parents, they’re here because it’s their job. I felt free and less burdened at home,” says one boy in the institution. According to the video, 85% of children in out-of-home care are placed in institutions (a very high number for the developed world), which the UN says is a breach of human rights conventions. Additionally, Japan is one of the only developed nations that regularly institutionalizes babies, instead of placing them in home-based care such as foster care or adoption. According to the video, Japan has not fully embraced foster care and adoption as they are not traditionally a part of Japanese culture. However, the Japanese government is beginning to understand the long-term impacts of institutionalization on children, many of which this video highlights, and is endeavoring to increase the use of foster care as a form of alternative care.