I am not a psychologist of human or child behavior, yet I feel reasonably confident in voicing out that children are pure and innocent.
Children are new beings to the world which makes them ‘innocent’ of the way the world works. Young children probably do not understand anything beyond themselves, since they are too busy in their own world. According to some child psychologists, until a child is 2-3 years of age it is difficult to near impossible to discipline children because they are so self-oriented. Other experts also claim at the same time that a child can learn and absorb so much early in life, so one has to teach good habits early on or they could grow into little ‘demons.’
As children grow up, they start interacting with others, and they begin to learn that there is more to the world than themselves. They learn how to share, to barter, to earn things, and in the process of growing up, they start to understand the rules that go along with interacting with others.
Are adults very different? Don’t some adults also have some levels of purity and innocence according to how they conduct and control their life and their minds? It's a sadly different thing that the world offers many temptations and sometimes one succumbs to those on certain occasions easily.
Is a child pure and innocent or just an untrained, inexperienced human being growing into it's potentiality? It’s a debatable question. What are your views on this matter?
Let the discussion and analysis go on; in the meantime, I insist on posting what I feel right now about them: Children are innocent and their smile is always great.
This is a 2-year old picture of my sweet niece and her little American friend, clasping on dearly to me while on a walk in the snow.
31 comments:
Very nice post Celine. I can understand the question. I guess when our thinking, character, expectations, aim etc come in our life, we became complex. People will be more complex with more options. We set priority, objectives as there are many things to do. Thus conflicts are inevitable.
I believe every person is good, but there are mismatch on the thoughts.
Thanks for stopping by :)
Well, I had the same thoughts when I wrote about Cookie Cutter Babies
You have used a very apt word "self-oriented" - children indeed have the ability to grow as self oriented inviduals, but our society forces them into a mold that they lose their original ability of sensing the world through their own instincts.
At the same time, you bring up a good point question - are babies really just "untrained" human? What would happen if they were left untrained and grew up.. Who is willing to experiment?!! :)
And then, at some point, you know enough to be able to choose between staying to true to your inner child, or becoming a 'person of the world'.
What do you do then?
pijush: Thank you very much. I understand that life starts off simple and we tend to become happy in that state but over time, it gets complicated because of our own actions, sometimes unintentional and foolish, of creating unnecessary obstacles to let it remain simple.
Having said that, suddenly I feel like a mini philosopher..haha!
archikins: There are times when I feel that we fight with ourselves to bring up our children as demanded by the norms of this society, and then fight harder to solve problems created as a result of that sort of upbringing. Children are, in their essence, good and innocent, and that essence must be nurtured and allowed to flourish. If they were left untrained and grew up as nature took its course, is there a guarantee that it would avoid unnecessary contradictions and complications, say, for example, to the principles of harmonious living? Would they in such a case contribute only positively and help to make this planet a safe, healthy, happy and prosperous place for all? I am not quite sure, but it’s worth giving it a try. Back again to: who’s willing to experiment? ;)
Thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments. I read your 'Cookie Cutter Babies.' I must say it’s a truly impressive posting! I also read about UG. Thank you for sharing such interesting stuff. :)
ri: You gotta be bold and make the right choice yourself. Happiness is directly related to making that decision and living with it. So, it's you who has to decide the way, but in choosing make sure, not to lose but gain. *kichu* :)
Hi Celine,
They are certainly pure and innocent. As a father, my greatest joy has been in bringing up my children
Keep smiling
David
Simple!
Imagine a potter moulding his wares - pots. They are so clumsy in the beginning, but they get shapely. How good - as per the skills of the potter. Our pot here is the child and the potter is the parent/friend/teacher. The child just doesn't understand anything - innocent. Its upto the others to shape his life :)
Thanks for the blog comment
I love my nieces and nephew but I can't imagine having children of my own. It's a scary, scary world out there.
The general theory is that intellect overshadows innocence as people grow up. And you can't avoid intellect as you grow. Retaining both intellect and innocense must be an art in itself.
If you notice within you, intellect is usually overshadowed in the moments of complete innocence, like when you are in love, when you are amidst a beautiful landscape,..
There is a theory tht each individual born will have a life's theme which he cannot escape ... a personality type tht is unique . I guess he can be trained to an extent initially to do good things. But " time " is not a straight line but rather circular. with time, we come across different situations ... emotions i.e we feel happy , depressed , successful , ecstatic, hopeless etc ...go thr our ups and downs at different stages of our lives. we end up as human beings after going thr the circle of life .. somewhere between an angel and a demon . we can only be aware of the " innocence " tht once existed within us ...cos anything tht ever existed within us cannot die off ..it has to be somewhere deep within us.... maybe tht makes a person better than others :)
Very interesting post...
My mother and I have always argued on a certain point. She always believes that "Humans are born bad, and they develop good qualities". I always prescribe to the "Humans are born good, and they develop bad qualitites" mantra.
The greatness in a lot of adults is the sheer innocence which they haven't lost. It's wonderful to be child like (not childish!).
The difference though is that innocence in adults is by choice, to a large extent, whereas it is vefry natural in children.
Good post, great pic!
I could not agree more! It is indeed an awesome responsibility to raise a child. Archikins raises the point of untrained babies. Someone actually performed such an experiment in the US at the beginning of the 20th century. Babies that lack human touch and contact do not thrive. I believe some actually died--horrific misuse of science!
My workshop classmate and I were discussing how our so called education, as a side-effect, kills spontaneity in us. She was telling me how her son makes abstract sculptures in plasticine and then destroys them in frustration as they do not look like a 'an animal, a man-made object' or any favourite theme from the school art class. Hearing this I suddenly recall reading somewhere that children ARE capable of abstract thinking but it is elders who kill that spontaneity. I can imagine the school teacher rubbishing his abstract artwork and his classmates laughing at it...
I feel that children CAN BE a mixture of both innocence and maturity at the same time. Why would my 2yr old brother try to (My parents tell me this!)share his playthings with me while I was still in the crib, while he was unaware that I am incapable of holding the little ball he put in my crib? He also knew how to share... and that looked very un-self-oriented too!
And we must remember that there is this theory which I have come to believe in, that even behavioural traits CAN be transmitted through genes. I do not know if genetic memory is the right word for it. But this also could play a role. A child often does show more maturity and objectivity than a fully 'mature' adult!
But in general I do hate all the theories, categorisations, and the resultant stereotyping... that is one thing kids would never do :)
By the way, I for the first time noticed that you have Celine written on your profile... :)
lovely post Celine! wonderful point raised. THat is the best part of being a kid & being with them. They stun you with straight simple questions that leave you shocked.
My kids really surprise me with their simple acts!
Thanks for dropping by.
Rashmi
david mcmahon: Thank you for your comment here. Let's continue to keep smiling. :)
tejas: Welcome aboard. Your comments, being a "happy lad" who has given up "all the sadness, moroseness, sullenness and disappointments long time back" are appreciated. Thanks. :)
crazy me: Thanks for dropping by. It's also a crazy, funny, adventurous, interesting, great world out there, so..keep smiling. ;)
arun: You've raised an interesting point of the art of retaining innocence as intellect develops. Thank you for sharing your views. :)
neetika a: Thank you for dropping by and your engaging comments. Each individual is unique, of course. :)
december stud: Thank you for dropping by here and am glad you took my comments at your blog with the right spirit. I completely agree with your opinion expressed in your paras 2 and 3 here. Thank you for sharing your views. :)
brian: Awesome responsibility to raise a child indeed but can we say with conviction that we adults raise the kids right?
If we were, as kids, innocent in that stage and somewhere down the road to adulthoood, we have adopted prejudice, doubt, selfishness, fear, mistrust etc., who is responsible for this? Is this in the upbringing, is it because of an inherent trait in the child, or are there other factors involved?
Thank you for your visit here and also for sharing those interesting thoughts. :)
claytonia vices: Celine thanks you for dropping by and sharing your points of view. :)
randomthoughts: Thanks for visiting and also for your comments on those little ones. :)
I think children are like sponge.. they absorb everything that happens around them. Since we've lost our innocence is it any surprise that it doesn't take long for them to turn into adult cynics?
Nice post.
Thats very true Celine...Children are pure and innocent and it is said here they are the other face of God, so even if they make a mistake they should be excused and not bullied as is done most often...& a very nice photo to go with it...Nice post!
Well said, Celine,
I know a lot of adults who still behave like children!
Cheers
David
squiggles mom: Welcome, and thank you for your views. :)
kalyan: Thanks for your kind comments. Yes, let's be gentle and good to them, as they deserve to be treated so. :)
I always here complains from cousins about how naughty their kids are..but ultimately that naughtiness is the expression of their innocence..as you grow older man learn to be more wicked and less naughty and they are good enough to conceal that..
I agree very much ..kids are innocent..
Happy reading of so many nice pages !
Innocence carries promises unscathed by worldy expectations. I know not any other perceivable example of this abstract term that gets nearer to such divinity than a child's expression.
The post has its beauty in to let innocence prevail in its piety.
Best wishes,
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