NOVA video

Today in class, we watched a video called NOVA- World in Balance- The People Paradox. There were some interesting facts in this video that I did not know. For instance, I did not know that Japan's population will most likely decrease by half by the end of this century. Also, the elders over 60 in Japan out number the kids under the age of 4. More children in developing countries are surviving than ever before. The largest youth in history are entering their reproductive years. This is around the age of 14, and there have been an explosion of births. We also learned about demographic divide.
     In the video, we saw the Taj Mahal, a famous building in India. Taj Mahal was built to honor a queen who died while giving birth to her 14th child. I also learned that India is going to pass China for biggest population. Uttar Pradesh would be the fifth biggest nation in the world if it was considered a nation. It has 177,000,000 people in it. In the video, there was a woman named Goody. She is 30 years old and almost died while giving birth to her 8th child. She went through 3 days of obstructed labor. Goody does not want to have another baby, but that isn't her decision. I know it sounds crazy, and I think it is, but Goody is the least involved in the decision of having more kids. The reproductive decisions are made by men. Boys are the preferred gender for children. If a woman is to have a girl and not a boy, it is considered her fault. In Uttar Pradesh, 1 out of 10 kids die before they reach age 5, and that is extremely sad. Also, 95% of marriages are arranged by the parents. I would hate to have my parents arrange who I am going to marry without any word from me. I don't think I could get married to a stranger at the age of 15 or 16. The things that go on in India is way different from in the United States, and I am so lucky that I live here and not there.