Genetically Altering Children

With technology advancing at an alarming rate and new discoveries being made every day, it’s just a matter of time before parents will have the ability to genetically alter their kids. In some cases this could save kids from having disabilities or mental illnesses. However, it can also help kids to become far more superior than they should be either mentally or physically. While genetically altering kids could help fight illness, disease, and many of societies other problems, it is only a matter of time before it will be used to make seemingly perfect kids.

Personally I am not opposed to genetically altering kids. From what I see in my everyday life, there are many things that I would like to change if given the chance. I see kids with disabilities, mental illnesses, and many other problems. If given the opportunity, and to give these kids a more fulfilling and normal life, I would have no problem with genetically altering these kids. To give a kid in a wheelchair the ability to walk or to give a mentally retarded individual the ability to live alone in normal society would be great. These are some of the things that could be done through genetically altering children.

One drawback of this is the fact that these kids are not being healed of their imperfections, they’re being born without them. Genetically altering a child to walk from birth is much different than giving him the ability after he’s never had it before. Now I’m not saying that it shouldn’t be done because of these reasons, I’m simply saying that the children won’t appreciate the process as much after not going through the bad.
Another drawback and the most dangerous part of this whole process would have to be the fact that parents will try and genetically alter their kids to be seemingly perfect when there is nothing wrong with them to begin with. This is where I am opposed to genetically altering kids and where I draw the line. Giving kids the opportunity to live a normal life from birth is a lot different than giving kids the ability to get perfect test scores and go professional in any sport they choose. It is obvious that some individuals have genes that allow their offspring to do great things. We can clearly see this in the world of professional sports. Some examples are Payton and Eli Manning. These brothers both play professional football. Also we see this in parents and their kids, for example the professional basketball player Joe “Jelly Bean” Bryant and his son Kobe Bryant. Also it seems that most professional basketball players or track runners are African American. This isn’t just coincidence, this is the fact that genes play a big role in what people become. These are not things that should be messed with from birth. Parents should not be given the ability to make their children professional athletes or scholars because then this process will become nothing more than a competition to make the perfect child and nobody will have any incentive to work in life. A child who is handed everything will not have to work to get ahead in life because everything is given to him. A child who has nothing has to work to get ahead in life. If every child is born seemingly perfect there will be no incentive to do anything, technology and research will come to a standstill, professional sports will become a thing of the past because everyone will have the abilities to perform, and society will fall apart. The only way for society to work is with diversity.
Technology is at the point where the ability to genetically alter kids is not far from becoming a reality. Parents will soon be given the option of totally changing their children’s genes. I definitely agree in this if it is used for curing disease and illness, but not to make a “super child.” This is where I draw the line and where the line should be drawn for everyone else. Genetically altering children should be used for good, but not perfection.