I've noticed a new form of cynicism becoming rife lately, and it has nothing to do with feeling sceptical about Santa Claus or doubting whether the Malta Environment and Planning Authority has ever taken two consistent decisions on the same ODZ spot. These days we've moved away from limiting the "Bah! Humbug" approach to traditional matters and are now directing the full force of our pessimism towards children.

There are a growing number of people who really don't like children and don't see the point of them. I'm not talking about those people who are indifferent to children, or those who have decided they'd much rather be child-free. These people have quite responsibly evaluated their particular circumstances and concluded that a dependent for the next 18 years or so was not on their wish list and opted-out of the whole experience. That's a reasonable course of action. After all, a child - like a pet - is for life and not just for Christmas. So anybody who is not particularly keen on becoming a parent does well not to have children. These are not the cynics I'm referring to.

No, the modern-day cynics actively dislike children and consider them to be nothing more than leeches on legs sucking the life, soul and money from their parents and from society. Oh, and they're also potential polluters and occupiers of ever-widening carbon footprints. Think I'm exaggerating? Actually I'm just describing the prevalent attitude towards children. The societal pendulum has swung from the family-loving baby-boomers of the 1950s and 60s to the more individualistic and hedonistic party-people of the Noughties. Careers, ambition and enjoyment seem to occupy the highest spots on the agenda. Anything or anyone that can create a setback to these aspirations is viewed in an entirely negative light. In this world order, children are viewed as the main culprits.

This was brought home to me when I was reading a review of a book by the French writer Corinne Maier. Entitled No Kids: 40 Reasons not to have children, it is a tongue-in-cheek polemic against what the author calls "baby mania" and the insistence on society of looking at everything child-related through rose-tinted spectacles. Maier, who is the mother of two children, says that she sometimes regrets having them and that she is simply expressing what every mother feels. She lists the cons of having children. These range from the obvious "childbirth is torture" and "children are expensive" to the stupid "having children is conformist" to "families are a nightmare". There are others. Maier warns readers that they will have to learn a language of idiots to communicate with their children. These same children will kill all trace of desire or lust lurking in their parent's loins and sound the death knell of a couple. And parents will be duped into thinking that there is such a thing as a perfect child only to be inevitably disappointed by their offspring.

Some of the parent-traps mentioned by Maier are frankly ridiculous or can be avoided in some way. After all, not every family is made up of neurotic, duelling, exhausted parents with unwashed hair pandering to babbling child despots. She doesn't mention a single plus point to having children. But then again, the book is not a scientific treatise and should be taken at face-value - a light-hearted rant about the drudgery and mishaps that are the disadvantages of parenthood.

At least that's what I thought. The readers of the article thought otherwise. Of the 216 comments posted, the overwhelming majority were virulent diatribes against children and the "selfishness" of parents who brought them into the world. One person wrote, "children are boring, gross, slobbering, crying and financially and emotionally draining". Someone else chipped in with, "children ruin your body and your life, cost a fortune, and cause your brain to slowly dribble out of your ears from your inevitable lack of contact with normal functioning adults." Yet another moaned about the unfairness of parental leave, whereby childless taxpayers had to support others for the "lifestyle choice they've inflicted upon themselves".

These comments got me thinking about the dismal prospect of a future peopled predominantly by human beings with this mindset. It's a far cry from the "live and let live" attitude of people who choose to be child-free. The anti-child mentality is a hostile one which excludes the possibility of hope or regeneration. It refuses to view children as anything other than unwelcome intruders into the lives of parents who will have to tone down their lifestyle to accommodate the newcomers.

The fact that parents might have to be at home at night instead of drifting in at dawn like vampires, is considered to be a major catastrophe. And while the purchase of a top-of-the-range car or boat is met with approval, there's all this lip-pursing when someone talks about having children. It is a reflection on the values which are being promoted today that having children is no longer a priority. Is that good or bad? We'll see in 20 years' time when the island is populated solely by middle-aged men and their contemporaries decrying the discomfort of children.

In the run-up to Christmas, we're bombarded with appeals for help from all quarters. There's Dar tal-Providenza which needs all the help it can get, the immigrants living in cruelly cold tents at Hal Far and children suffering because of terrible illnesses. Then there are the abandoned dogs and horses saved from the butcher's knives and a host of other worthy causes. Surrounded by misery on all sides, it is sometimes easier and less distressing to walk away from it all.

I prefer to think that this is not a cold-hearted decision to ignore suffering but an attempt at self-preservation or shielding ourselves from despair. It's understandable. However, even a minor effort or donation can have a positive effect. For example, for the price of a Big Mac, mosquito nets can be bought for African children who suffer from horribly infected lesions on their faces caused by bat droppings falling on them. When you consider the amplified effects of such an insignificant donation, you'll have to admit that it's much more satisfying not to walk on by and to help out the charity of your choice.

cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt