Children to Box for Scholarships
Tonight, starting at 6 p.m., children will be lacing up their gloves to vye for 15 academic scholarships.
The municipality-sponsored “Fight for Your Scholarship” event pits children, ages 8 to 13, against each other in the boxing ring to compete for 10-month scholarships, bags of food and trophies.
Panama City Mayor Bosco Vallarino said that he is proud to have this type of program to encourage children to participate in sports instead of violence. Opponents, however, say the deplorable event reflects the human misery of the organizers and violates children’s human rights.
“They should earn a scholarship based on effort and academic performance, not through a boxing match or other means,” psychologist Geraldine Emiliani told La Critica. “What is taught is that a good can be acquired through violence.”
Ombudsman Ricardo Julio Vargas has asked the mayor’s office to suspend the activity.
Incidentally, child boxing has also been popular in Thailand where the victor of most fights will make more money in an hour than a farmer or factory worker earns in a month, ABC news reported in 2007.
The mayor said that admission to tonight’s event is free at the Lyon’s Club gymnasium of El Maranon.
Children Boxing in Thailand
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So, whatever happened to a good ol’ fashion spelling Bee?