The Future of Deaf Orphans in China

I can't say whether this article speaks for all or even most of China, but someone once asked me what kind of future Charlie would have had if he had stayed. In China, unadopted children age out of the international program at 14, which means they can only be adopted domestically at that point. They age out of the orphanage entirely at 16, out the gate and on their own to survive with whatever skills they've gleaned to that point. Charlie was well taken care of in the orphanage, but they can only protect them for so long.

I think this person was a little shocked when I answered that deaf orphans in China have pretty much two future paths: begging or crime. And my own personal feeling is that Charlie is too smart to beg. So I think, even despite his strong sense of ethics at this point in his life, he would have ended up a criminal. With his charm, probably a con man of some sort, but a criminal nonetheless.

Okay, so maybe that statement was a little harsh? But then today I got the text of an article that was published through Reuters News Service. I decided to copy that in here, just so y'all know I'm not blowing smoke here.

Enjoy, if you can.


Deaf-Mute Children Sold to China Pickpocket Ring **
Principal of School for Deaf Charged With Selling Kids

Chinese police have detained the vice-principal of a
school for deaf-mutes and other special needs children
for selling 10 students to a ring that trained them to
become pickpockets, the Guizhou Metropolitan Daily
reported.

Police rescued the victims, the youngest of whom was
12, in Jiangxi and Henan provinces this month, the
online edition of the newspaper said.

They went missing from their school in Liupanshui city,
Guizhou, last month, the newspaper said, adding that
the ring trained and required each person to steal and
turn in 500 yuan ($65) per day.

Zhu Xiangyu, 52, vice-principal of the school and
vice-president of Liupanshui's Deaf-Mute Association,
and four other suspects had been taken into police
custody.

Hundreds of deaf-mute students had gone missing since
2005, the newspaper said.

China has about 1.8 million deaf-mutes aged 18 or
younger, many of whom are unable to obtain an education
or steady work.

Police vowed this month to crack down on gangs that
exploit deaf-mute youths, highlighting the hardship
of disabled people in a society that gives them little
state support, especially in poor rural areas.

Earlier this month, the Legal Daily reported that
police in Hunan province broke up a gang of
gun-wielding deaf-mute robbers who police said were
behind hundreds of armed robberies across the country.

SOURCE: Reuters News Service (Published 5.24.2007)
Credited to a publisher for contributing to this story
from Beijing, China.