My initial reaction to this article was surprise. I had not known that the repercussions of the One-Child Policy could be so detrimental. The tradition of the past and society in itself promotes the idea that boys are better than girls. These sexist ideals have created a myriad of problems, including the kidnapping and selling of little boys. Now some of the reasons that these boys are being taken are understandable: since women care for their husband’s family, parents of girls are afraid that they will have to fend for themselves in old age. This is a rational fear, but it can easily be fixed if the Chinese government would consider setting up homes and aid for these people. The dowry issue is also a setback, but this is just tradition and so it may never be resolved. Along with the rational reasons girls may be underappreciated comes the irrational, as is seen in the article, “China’s Stolen Sons.” People do not feel as good as others who have sons, which is based only on traditional ideals. Something not discussed in this article was what happened to the girls. 
As this sparked my curiosity, I found a page on Angelfire.com which explained the pros and cons of the policy. Some pros are that there is sex education in Chinese schools, and that the controlled population will prevent famine, but the downside is female infanticide. Little girls everywhere are being killed so that couples can have boys. There are things such as ‘dying rooms’ in orphanages where girls are tied to chairs, covered in their own mucous, feces, and urine where they sit and starve. A person comes in once a day to see if they are dead yet. These babies are called Mei-Ming, Meaning “No-Name.” When they die their bodies are disposed of and it was as if she never existed. When I Googled this name to find more, there was a website (Morpheus.cc/myworld/issues/meiming.html) that described in detail how girls are treated all over China and have been documented in the South China Morning post and a British Documentary called “The Dying Rooms.” These sites and articles really moved me, because children who had no choice over their gender are being put through horrid trials all because of sexist mindsets.
As this sparked my curiosity, I found a page on Angelfire.com which explained the pros and cons of the policy. Some pros are that there is sex education in Chinese schools, and that the controlled population will prevent famine, but the downside is female infanticide. Little girls everywhere are being killed so that couples can have boys. There are things such as ‘dying rooms’ in orphanages where girls are tied to chairs, covered in their own mucous, feces, and urine where they sit and starve. A person comes in once a day to see if they are dead yet. These babies are called Mei-Ming, Meaning “No-Name.” When they die their bodies are disposed of and it was as if she never existed. When I Googled this name to find more, there was a website (Morpheus.cc/myworld/issues/meiming.html) that described in detail how girls are treated all over China and have been documented in the South China Morning post and a British Documentary called “The Dying Rooms.” These sites and articles really moved me, because children who had no choice over their gender are being put through horrid trials all because of sexist mindsets.Both boys and girls are suffering from this ideal that women have no value. Little boys are being kidnapped and sold like slaves, which can traumatize them in ways they may never know. Little girls are being starved and killed so more boys can be brought into this world. The clash of the One-Child Policy and age-old tradition is yielding detrimental effects. The government is beginning to help though, to help ease the traditional mindset of most Chinese people. The only thing that still bothers me is that although cities may have started to accept girls, in farming areas not much has been accomplished. If government programs focused on rural areas where the highest numbers of infanticide are then the policy may have fewer problems.
