How Education will Overcome the World Population Problems E.K. 9th grade, Tamagawa Gakuen Junior highschool division

What do you think our planet will look like in the future? Will the future of humanity be one of hope and prosperity, or scarcity and destruction? When we think about our future, we cannot discuss without population problems and education, and the answer is all depending on us. When I was at school in Australia, I learned that the population in Australia should not exceed 30 million, even though Australia is a big continent, otherwise they would have a shortage of water supply. That was the beginning of my deep interest in population problems. The relationship of population to the human condition and to the condition of the earth, is often complex. But population growth effects almost every aspect of our lives. It contributes to hunger, migration, war and disease. Some people, mainly biologists and environmentalists, insists that population has already exceeded the earth's capacity. The six billionth child was born on October 12th 1999 in Sarajevo, which means that you have currently more than six billion neighbors around you. According to Population Action International (the PAI), it is estimated, that the population will reach ten billion in the year 2050, if the growth rate does not slow down. The rapid growth of population will cause many problems in many different ways. So why is the population growing so much, what impacts will we see, and what solutions can be considered? I believe, education is closely related to population problems so I will explain how I think, education connects to population problems. In developing countries such as countries in Africa and South Central Asia regions, the population is doubling approximately every twenty years. Generally speaking, the reason is because levels of income and education are lower in these countries. People tend to have more children in poorer societies because children are often assets. They help to get water, produce food, work for money outside their home that helps the families to live. Education is also closely related to population. I see more problem in women than men in those countries in terms of education. In some of those developing countries, there is still discrimination between men and women. For example, most women are not allowed to go to school to improve their knowledge. Women who do not receive an education usually marry at an early age, then have unwanted or mistimed children because they were not organized with their family planning. This is one big reason that the population is growing. I read about a girl in Nepal who stopped going to school when she was 9 and married when she was 14 years old. Consequently she had seven children by the time she was 20 years old. Can you believe that a girl having children before she becomes fully mature physically and psychologically? This situation is not rare in those developing countries.

So how about developed countries such as the USA, Japan, Germany and France? These countries have wealth and an infrastructure to support large families with education and medicine, but is the population growing in those countries? The answer is 'No'. You might think that this is a complete joke, but this is true and there is a valid reason for this. The more education people have, the more economic options they generally have, and the fewer children they are likely to want. Especially education women is extremely important. Most women in developed countries have at least nine years of schooling, and some grow up and find their own jobs in the future. These women who work tend to have less children than those who do not work because they have less time for the responsibility. So before they have children, they have good family planning, which also avoids risking their health. This is why the population in developed countries is gradually decreasing. So what is the big deal? If there are no big problems happening right now, why worry? Some people may say so. Unfortunately, the rapid growth of the world's population is not just a single problem by itself, but many different kinds of problems combined into one. There are so many problems that will be caused due to the projected population, but I'm afraid, if I start listing each one of them now, I would be here till tomorrow! Generally speaking, problems connected to poverty, food, water, the environment, employment, infectious diseases and education will be caused as a result. It will require a large amount of time and effort to solve all of these problems so if we do not start thinking about them now, it will be too late. So what should we do now? I think the most essential key to 'undo the knot' is to give everyone in the world a full education, no matter how old they are, where they are from and what gender they are. Education, especially for girls, and economic opportunity for women could lower birth rates enough to avoid doubling the world's population in the future. I think it is also important to make the quality of peoples' lives richer and education will make it possible. So what I can do now is to be enthusiastic to learn new things at school, that is, look at things from various perspectives, ask many questions and discuss with my friends and teachers. What is important is to do my best to find constructive answers always. Then, I would be able to gain good knowledge and skills to communicate with people, and understand what is right for me to do. My dream, is to become a staff member of the United Nations, and I would like to tackle the world population and make change through education in the future. If I could become a United Nations staff member someday, I would like to ask you again. What do you think our planet will look like in the future?

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