Blog seven: Families and Prejudice

There is a Russian actress that gave birth to a child with Down syndrome. Soon after giving birth the doctor asked her if she was going to keep him. It is not unusual for a baby with DS to be abandoned in Russia.  She is a very famous woman and has been advocating and informing others on DS. People criticize her and ask why she would bring him into the world if she knew about it. These people question her thought processes and choices. 85 % of babies born with DS in Russia are abandoned. There is a hidden place in which the children with disabilities are living. Some of those who kept them treated the children like prisoners. They were never seen and never let out to play with other children.

It is clear through this article that prejudice is an issue around the world. This woman is being isolated because she didn’t abort or abandon her baby. Sadly prejudice is something that is learned in our society. It is passed down from generation to generation. There is nothing we can do to rid the world of prejudice currently. We just have to be the good we want to see in the world and hope that others see it too. Prejudices are common among races, sexes, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and many other categories as well. You can see in the example of the Russian actress, she was told by her mother just how awful DS is but yet she decided to stop the passing down of these horrid ideas and make a movement to improve the lives and inform people about DS. Sociologically this is an issue that we created that cannot be solved currently.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130321-russian-actress-fights-downs-syndrome-prejudice