Never Let Me Go #3

          My ISU book Never Let Me Go had a social issue of bullying. That was when Tommy, one of the 3 main characters, used to get teased and picked by the older boys. They never included him in anything (like playing soccer) and when they got Tommy mad, he would have his temper tantrums which everyone would talk about. That then led to him being picked on more and people not wanting to talk to him. But as I continued to read the book, the social issue which I think is now developing is that kids don't have a voice in whether or not they want to do something. They don't have a say and also coping with loss. In the book Never Let Me Go, the guardians (aka the teachers) have been telling them that they are special. One guardian in the book told the kids their future which was, every kid that was in that boarding school in Hailsham, England, had to be an organ donor. Tommy and Ruth never got a say in whether or not they wanted to donate their organs. Also they were not going to be allowed to have kids due to the fact they will be organ donors up in till they have been "complete". Complete basically means when they die and as soon as they have been completed that's when you know you have done your job. Kathy becomes a carer to Ruth and Tommy and has to cope with the loss of her best friend Ruth who she knows is not going to make it through her last donation.

http://www.unicef.org/rightsite/files/rights_leaflet.pdf

          In article 6 it says "All children have the right of life. Governments should ensure that children survive and develop healthy." This relates to the social issue of how kids have no say because Tommy, Ruth and Kathy never got a choice in whether they wanted to be donors and or carers. Even though donating organs is a good thing but to the extent of "completion", that should be the choice of the person who is donating not in this case the guardians of Hailsham. Nothing is right by forcing a child to give up their organs to the point where you are "complete" This pdf shows all the rights and responsibilities children have.