The documentary Buffalo Girls may seem like a simple portrayal of rural adolescent life in Thailand. But it all actuality it is a unbiased look at the exploitation of children. These children are being used not only for the money they make engaging in traditional Mui Tai fighting, but for immoral entertainment purposes. This "entertainment" seems to bring the main focus off of the children and onto their money, the Baht. These young children's families get a taste of the fallible success and quickly become dependant upon the uncertain income generated by their child's winnings as well as the bets placed on their fights. Quickly turning a once fun hobby into an intensely pressured career. Buffalo Girls focuses on two adolescent girls named Pet and Stam. At first glance they both seem to enjoy fighting but once the documentary progresses it is obvious that they are enjoying it for reasons most would not find morally or ethically right. They do not like to do it for the same reason yor child likes to go to gymnastics class, they get pride from feeding their families. These girls, who are under ten, would be considered "Head of Household" on any United States tax form. The once fun sport has turned into a job for them. One unfortunately, where if you don't win the fight, your family doesn't eat. That is a harsh reality with extraordinary amounts of pressure to be placed on two small children. These girls should be having fun, they are children. They should be able to go out and play. They shouldn't have to intensely train from dusk until dawn, or put fighting before their schooling. But they both do, both girls are put in dangerous situations, both are treated poorly if and when they loose, and both feel sorrowfully guilty when they loose because like Stam sobbed after a loss, "My family needs money".
Although their families are in need for different reasons, This directly violates Article 19 (protection from all forms of violence) Under the convention on the rights of a child. That article clearly states that all children deserve to be free of emotion or physical harm. Thailand ratified this into their government in 1990, yet nothing has been done to help these poor children. The emphasis on these children's income is too great, and without a watchful eye from the government their families have taken advantage of their temporary "wealth". This has been a running theme with parents of children involved in the entertainment industry. It seems that most of the cases involved, where a family is reliant soley on a childs income, follow a steady pattern. All the cases are ones where these children's very own parent or family member squandered their independently earned fortune. This not only is happening in Thailand, but all over the world. A brief local example would be the children who worked in Hollywood, CA shooting motion pictures during the begining to mid 20th century. The pressure to be successful was so great many child stars reported to have been abused by parents if they were not seemingly perfect at their craft. Were these not cases of children's rights being taken advantage of, or even away? The similarities are all to scary once one takes into account that these parents once reliant on their children's income will seemingly do anything to keep the money train rolling. They become reliant on thier child, creating immense pressure on a fragile growing mind and body. They may do this because they can't find work or they don't want to. Or because they can only see money at the moment. The really scary part is that because of their parents actions, in some cases, if these children can not provide for their families they will all go hungry. This problem has got to be solved.
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