According to Google dictionary, innocence is ‘lack of guile or corruption. It’s purity.’
Innocence is a beauty. The most appealing trait of childhood. It’s something that the adults rarely possess. It’s something that our elders would always remember and laugh about when we’ve grown up.
My parents and grandparents frequently recall the activities from my childhood that showcased my innocence. For instance, the three-year old me, running back into the kitchen, believing I would get a third bowl of custard.
For some, innocence is ignorance, inexperience, belief in goodness. So, it’s explainable, why we lose innocence when we grow up.
In today’s world where every child wants to follow his/her parents and is eager to reach the age of 18, isn’t it tough to find innocence in our young ones?
There’ this, over-exposure to all things mature and adult. Exposure to all kinds of information (and the surprising language they use!). Yes, it’s true we can’t shelter our kids from everything, but we do need to acknowledge what reaches their mind.
We as adults want our children to know more, do more and act mature; even if their innocence, their soft minds are at stake. Overall, the entire concept of childhood has changed overtime.
This story of innocence is my answer to the question above, that I came across on LinkedIn, a few months ago.
We’ve failed to notice this change. And yet we wonder how quickly our children grow.
Every child goes through various stages of development, and every stage is crucial. We need to give our children some time to adjust to these stages; just like the school curriculum. It’s planned according to the grades. They can’t teach grade 8 mathematics in grade 2. Can they?
Yet, we want our five-year old to operate a smartphone and/or tablet like a pro.
Are we aware, over-exposure to all things beyond a child’s age, pushes them through psychological and emotional difficulties?
I’ve seen children as young as six, scowl at their elders if they’re interrupted from doing what they want.
You would always expect a bitter response from children these days, and their parents are okay with it. Instead, they would say, ‘She is smart’ or ‘He has a way with words’. Or ‘She is witty!’ They take pride in such things. It’s unbelievable.
While surfing on Quora, I found this amazing post(see the screenshot below). It was about a young girl who surprised her father with her innocence. Every time she mistakenly skipped pages of her notebook, she would write “Wasting pages. Sorry!” on the pages she had missed. At the end of the post, her father had even quoted, “I kept thinking where and when do we lose such childhood innocence”
A child humming a song while playing, dancing like no one is watching, collecting coins in piggy banks to buy a gift for the mother, sharing a slice of cake with the sibling, enjoying the rain, running after the birds, cooking a ‘fake’ meal for dad; all this reminds us of our innocence.
There will be times when, you would wish them to act maturely, and then you would also want them to be who they truly are. Young and soft.
We fail to tell our children that childhood is a wonderful time and that they shouldn’t rush into adulthood. Once, it’s over it’s not coming back. They’ve their whole life to act like an adult, why not enjoy our childhood? Why not cherish the innocence?
It’s ironic, that we adults wonder and (so much) wish to go back in time and become a child again! When on the other hand, we are perfectly okay with our children losing their innocence at an early age.
Hence, a playful, carefree and innocent childhood is lost somewhere in the age of advancement.
