Childhood Interupter Essay, Research Paper
Oops, someone spilled red paint on the floor. Touch it again, look around and feel the chill in the room. Bullet holes jammed in walls, a little girl with her honey golden hair matted in blood on the floor, and baffled little Johnny holding his toy. ?He didn?t know it was loaded?Johnny has had a rough upbringing?he learned it on television??. Another two childhoods wasted and gone, both to places unknown. The boy begins his life as a murderer, a crime that will consequently go unpunished. The precious little girl is finished in this world, her time done; hopefully she is off to a better place. Childhood is the most influential and pivotal point in a human?s life, it is at the root of all rebelliousness. Blame it on their youth when they were beaten, molested, raised by an addict mother, watched too much television, lacked a father, or did not receive enough attention and affection. Childhood is used as an excuse to procrastinate into living like an adult. Put the child to work and no longer does he have time to learn about the ideas that were exposed to him previously on television, radio, or at home.
A new little Johnny wakes up, eats breakfast, gathers his books and walks to school. He actively participates in class, completes his work, and is respectful to his teachers. The clock?s hand stretches to the numeral two, and the bell chimes. Little Johnny and his fellow classmates line up and walk outside with their teacher. It is time for work camp. All of the children in second grade are assigned to clean the community. They pluck at the trash and gather it in their bags. Pride glows from their cheeks when they see how clean the streets are and what a difference they have made. Today, these second graders have made about thirty dollars for six hours of work. Monday thru Friday the youth go to school from eight to two. After school they work about six hours, then go home to have dinner and spend time with their families. On the weekends little Johnny and his classmates go to school in the morning for about two hours, and then finish up the day with about nine hours of work. Appropriate breaks are given for rest and eating, and socialization. Everyday they are scheduled with a new job, from cleaning the streets to planting flowers to working for businesses. Childhood has become abolished and something new has taken its place: labor to be proud of, and a product to show as an accomplishment. This product is about $350,000, which little Johnny has earned since age five. He is now a man, eighteen years old, eligible to live on his own and pay for college tuition. He no longer can blame his parents or society for not giving him an opportunity to flourish. Violence and distractions have become eliminated so that the children can now focus on their well-being. Society has completed the task of helping overcome the disabilities associated with their size and inexperience so that they can become a larger mature individual.
What the vast majority of children need is to stop being pampered, stop being coddled, stop being chauffeured, and stop being catered to. In the final analysis it is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings. Our children will not survive our habits of thinking, our failures of the spirit, our wreck of the universe into which we bring new life as blithely as we do. Mostly, our children will resemble our own misery and spite and anger, because we give them no choice about it. In the name of parenthood, education, and good manners, we threaten and suffocate and bind and ensnare and bribe and trick children into emulation of our ways. Eighteen years is a lot of time wasted on television, nursery rhymes, riding bikes, and talking on the phone. This time can be occupied by more significant tasks, thus producing success in earlier years. The workplace is a wonderful place for the young population to express their talent and contribute to society. Elie Wiesel remarked, ?Once you bring life into the world, you must protect it. We must protect it by changing the world.?