Google’s Doodle: It’s Universal Children’s Day

I have a confession to make. I rely on Google for pretty much everything! It’s scary, but I actually rely on Google to remind me of Valentine’s day, Halloween and a string of other occasions that would wizz by without so much as an acknowledgement from me.

And that’s not good… I’ve learned the hard way, as a young pimple-faced teenager, that girls aren’t being serious when they tell you that: “We don’t believe in Valentine.”

Bu today was a little different. Today, Google’s Doodle reminded me that it’s Universal Children’s Day. In India, the Doodle was designed by a 4th Grader, Puru Pratap Singh, who wants to be a dentist when he grows up. It’s titled: “My India, Full of Life.”

According to Wikipedia, Universal Children’s day has its origins in Turkey, but was first celebrated around the world in 1955. Many countries around the world already celebrate children on various days.

This year is special, however. It marks the the 20th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of the Convention of Human Rights, the declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Geneva Convention.

So, why is this important? Well, despite the advancement in science and technology nearly 8 million children lose their lives from six treatable and preventable causes: diarrhea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, premature birth or anoxia (the lack of oxygen) during childbirth. This is by and large a problem that children face in the developing world.

In the developed world Children’s Day could take on a different twist. Children today spend way too much time staring at blinking lights on a screen. A friends child uses Mind Manager to draw mind-maps of his plan for the day. The kid has an excel sheet to track his scores on Wii, and plots them on a chart in PowerPoint. This kid is 7!

So, for one day only, why don’t we just send the kids out to play?! They could go to a park, slope or field. Anywhere but here. I know it’s easy for me to say, I live in Dubai and the weather is beautiful, but hey, I didn’t grow up here and getting muddy, wet and bruised was the order of the day!

One thing that does erk me about Google, however, is that it doesn’t do remind me of my anniversary!