As Genie cognitively progresses throughout the years after rescue, she gains the abilities to respond to others and interact with certain objects. Even though she did not properly develop her self identity during her childhood, there is evidence that she is beginning to conceptualize her sense of self during her teen years. Feral children, such as Genie, lack a self concept impairing their development. However, in order to solve this, they must require the agents of socialization, immerse themselves in culture, and undergo socialization methods, such as Mead’s “Stages of the Self.” Through constant nurturing and therapy, Genie would have a chance to develop her sense of self and recovery from her previous, feral state.
As innocent children, we grow up with intentions of being just like our mommies and daddies. We dream that one day, we can wear the same powerful red cape, that we watch our parents wear with courage and bravery on a daily basis. Sadly, not every child is fortunate enough to have superheroes as parents; some children have villains as their mothers and fathers. When the walls of naivety begin to fade away and reality comes into play, certain children have to face the harsh reality that what should be their number one supporter(s) is actually their number one offender. In A Child Called It by David Pelzer, Pelzer learns how to survive abuse from his mother, and isolation from his entire family.
The Secret of the Wild Child is a documentary about a little girl named Genie, who is locked up in solitary confinement in a bedroom and isolated from the outside world for almost a decade ever since she is thirteen-year-old. Long-term solitary life and lack of human childhood have caused her to exhibit inhuman behaviours as well as depriving her rights to have a normal social life. Fortunately, she is able to receive help from doctors in various fields who gathered together to develop a perceived good solution to her illness; however, the form of the therapies provided are controversial as they are more like an experiment than an actual cure. The film does this by illustrating the complex relationship between doctors and patients; specifically,
The boy represents children all over the world who also have to grow up quickly due to certain circumstances. Children in comfortable, middle-class families will never understand the feeling of the unknown. They are able to hold onto their childhood innocence for as long as they wish, and they never have to think about where their food is coming from or whether or not they will be alive in the morning. Children in countries like Syria are fighting for survival each and every day. Like the son’s, their horrific circumstances have caused them to mature much more rapidly than the average child.
People often say that your childhood is the most important part of your life, and it is the part of one’s life that affects them the most. In Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons, Ellen is forced to become independent as a result of a challenging childhood, that also affects her view of others and herself. Her father 's actions had a large impact on Ellen’s quickly developing independence, while the loss of her mother and grandmother exposed her to people who influenced the way she viewed others and herself. Ellen displayed independence when she was given the responsibility of tasks her father began to abandon.
Famous entrepreneur and animator, Walt Disney, once said and lived by the following: “I don’t believe in playing down to children. Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows.” Similarly, Jeannette Walls’ memoir, The Glass Castle, expresses how individuals face the world and such experiences on their own, gaining wisdom, despite their age and an apathetic support system. Facing multiple adverse conditions, Rex and Rose Walls kept their family from amassing happiness, substantial wealth-- wasted in alcoholism, and precious time--in attempts to achieve personal goals that put their children’s successes aside. Yet however, the Walls parents never “treated
A significant amount of children in today’s society belonging to the foster care system will never gain the knowledge of their full potential. This system can provide a better life for some children or be abusive and dangerous for others. Ashley Rhodes grew up in a child care system where she acquired a difficult childhood and a failing mother, however, she gained her success today while in the system. Being taken away from your biological family and placed the foster system is unfortunate for any child to say the least. There are, however, on occasion, positive aspects that arise from such circumstances.
The human development of a child is strongly connected with the conditioning of the environment and its agents (human, animals, and things around him/her). In the case of Genie, his father, Clark Wiley, regulated silence using his fists and wood to his children, ever since the
She recognizes that her own mother regretted giving birth to her, “It saddened her to have given birth to such an item as myself,” (263). The unsettling implication that a woman has given birth to an object, rather than a living, breathing, human being, is made tragic upon realizing that the protagonist views this as fair judgement and in turn she not only accepts this truth as her own but she agrees with it, “I was a thing,” (265). The narrator’s sympathizing view of this cruel impression helps guide the reader in understanding how damaging this type of isolation is to the incapacitated. The isolation resulted in the protagonist genuinely believing that she has no place in society and instead of fighting against the majority she simply took their verisimilitude and made it her
Genie was found at age thirteen by a social worker, after Genie’s mother reached out for services. “ The
The tragedy case of the feral child Genie shows the critical value of childhood to both cognitive and social development of human. Although her language and social skills had improved a lot since she was rescued, Genie would never become a fully developed person due to the isolation and abuse she had suffered in her
Not close himself to society and have imaginary friend. He finally recognized himself in another person after 12 years of being unsure of who he was. This extract from the essay “ I was twelve years old and had, until then, never felt that I recognized myself in another person. ‘ showed that all the moments that he spent hiding himself to society trying to understand who he really is and the embarrassment are finally over.
Baby was raised in an unstable and derelict environment, paired with the absence of familial support, which crippled her childhood development. Baby’s moral contradiction and personal integrity was fueled by the stigma she encountered from her social networks. Consequently, her understanding of social and moral values deviated from societal norms. I.
Studies show that nurture has a bigger impact than nature. A feral child is a kid who has lived away from human contact, and she/he has little experience of being taught stuff. Studies show that feral children are not as smart, and they are “babies” when they are found. A girl named Jeanie was found when she was 13. When they found her, she acted like a baby.
Although shy, I loved my friends and siblings and thought the best in every situation. It wasn’t until I grew older and received the guidance and outside perspective of my adopted mom that I realized how awful my home life was. I’ve since begun analyzing my behaviors and emotions that ran through my mind as a child to realize how to overcome the abuse I’d endured. The six books I’ve chosen as mirrors identify the emotions and behaviors I see myself having at a young age of nine or ten years old.