I was an innocent child for most of my childhood. My parents always tried to shield me from the horrors of the outside world. And then as a teenager my boarding school also hid the outside world from me.
It was only when I started work as a journalist that I was rapidly exposed to the outside world and its atrocities - homelessness, poverty, crime, war and everything else. I was profoundly shocked for a while.
It was normal when I was a child to preserve children's innocence, their cheerful outlook, and spare them from the sort of appalling things they weren't psychologically equipped to process.
But now, because of so many news outlets and so much social media, children are coming up against the outside world and all its barbarities at a very early age.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I would say it's a bad thing because young children who haven't yet cultivated the necessary cynicism or detachment or composure to take sickening horrors in their stride can find them extremely disturbing.
I'm sure this premature exposure to the outside world is partly what's causing the epidemic of mental distress among young people. But how to put the genie back in the bottle?
I think everything is overwhelming these days, for children and adults.
ReplyDeleteIf I spend too much time on the internet I generally feel rubbish. I think kids should be encouraged to play offline, and adults should put their phones down when kids are present and pay attention to them instead.
My dog even gets upset if both Mr Blue and I are focussing too much on screens.
As for innocence, I think it depends on the child and their interests, and the environment they're brought up in.
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Ms Scarlet: Absolutely, kids should be encouraged to play offline and adults should be encouraged to switch off their phones. I agree, the degree of children's innocence does depend partly on the environment they're in. Which includes the news outlets and social media we're being swamped with day in and day out.
DeleteI feel as though every generation of children has lived through world events that have shaped their lives. It’s the feeling of hopelessness that’s causing the mental distress as well as the media.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Yes, I think that's true. Hopelessness is a pretty prevalent emotion right now.
DeleteI’m of the generation that was taught to crawl under our desks and cover our heads with our arms if a bomb went off. But, that was a rare event not all the time. We played outside using the whole neighborhood—sometimes being blocks from home with parents having no idea where we were. I’m not sure we were safer but we were not scared.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: Like you, I would go out on my own for hours on end, my parents having no idea where I was. Certainly I never felt scared, I always felt if I got in any trouble one of the locals would come to my rescue.
DeleteI don't think it's good for the most part for little kids to be seeing some of the things that go on in the world. That's one reason that my 12 year old grandson doesn't have a smart phone yet. No need to have access to the internet 24/7 at his age.
ReplyDeleteMary: Not allowing your grandson to have a smart phone is very sensible, given the awful things he could come across. And yes, who needs the internet at his age?
DeleteNick,
ReplyDeleteI remember my mum reacting with anger/alarm when I told her that some random man bought me some sweets at my local newsagents when I was a kid. I was a very sheltered child. I remember that moment because, at the time, I didn't understand why she was so upset. I think that's probably the hardest part of having to break a child's innocence. Just how do you explain to a child what a predator is! My mum skirted discussing that but made it v. clear never to take things from unknown people.
Otherwise, for me, I've been very lucky. I lived in a bubble. My mum would help me with my homework, we never swore (ever), we had to look away from the TV when there was some age-inappropriate stuff. I was blessed in many ways. :)
Liam: Sounds like you had a very healthy childhood, with your mum looking after you very carefully. Very true, how do you explain a predator to a small child? I guess being a sheltered child actually suited you very well.
DeleteI agree, Nick, that children today are much more exposed to the world than in my own childhood. It's not necessarily a good thing for anyone, including adults. Children have much easier access to technology and that could be a large part of the problem.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: Smart phones give children instant access to any amount of horrific and obscene material they shouldn't be exposed to till at least their teens.
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