Through The Eyes of a Child

The world looks differently to children than adults. Children would explore the world with a sense of wonder and viewed each new discovery with excitement. The environment around them was so humongous it seemed be inhabited by giants. Over time this excitement began to dwindle until the world around them seemed mundane. As they grow, the oversized world shrinks and become duller. This altered viewpoint affects how children view their parents, the world around them, and even how they see themselves.

To children, their parents are the most important and influential people in their lives. Kids view their parents as godlike. They view their father as a protector and provider; therefore, he is the biggest and strongest person in the universe. Children view their mothers as comforters and see them as the most sincere and compassionate person alive, with a lap that is softer than the best down pillow. Parents are seen as the most intelligent people on the entire planet. For children the concept of their parents making a mistake is almost inconceivable, and they find it shocking to witness a parent making a mistake.

Children see the world as full of wonder, happiness and inhabited with kind people. Kids look at strangers as someone who is trustworthy, and they have to be taught otherwise. Children see every animal as a pet and each new playmate is a best friend. Kids forgive and forget quickly and easily, without holding a grudge. They are naturally curious and desire to slate it. Children have a strong desire to learn and have higher brain activity to retain information more rapidly for language development and motor skills.. They experience everything for the first time and want to understand what it is and how it works. For example: Why do clouds cry or why does the moon follow us?

Generally children are happy with who they are and how they look. They do not worry about how many calories they are consuming or if they are getting enough exercise. How they look is not as important as what is for dinner and can they go play. Their clothing does not have to be designer labels and can be full of holes. Little girls are princesses and little boys are superheroes. Unfortunately, this ideology is shaken as they grow and the outside world begins to encroach on their environment.

When the children become a teenagers and then adults, their analysis of the world alters. Their innocent outlook is replaced with mistrust and self-doubt. Ideologies that were taken for granted suddenly become shallow and ill-conceived. Adults often have to look down to speak to look their mother in the eyes, and their father is not as big as he used to be. While attending high school and college, people come to the realization that their parent’s knowledge has a limit. As inconceivable as it may seem, parents do make mistakes. Over time, adults see the mistakes their parents make and realize that they are not invincible and all knowing.

With this understanding, they begin to realize the world can be a cruel place. They experience the brutality of people that seek to take advantage of the innocent and naive. They watch the news and see school shooting and understand that there are bad people in the world. Sometimes death takes family members or friends. Having friends turn against them, adults learn to be cautious of who they befriend. As questions are answered and curiosity satisfied, the adult world becomes ordinary and predictable. The grass doesn’t seem as green and new experiences become more sporadic.

How adults view themselves is constantly under attack from the media and peers. People learn quickly that how they look needs to be improved. It does not take long for adults to want to look like that anorectic supermodel or the ripped stud at the beach. While there is nothing wrong with make up and muscles, the desire for improvement doesn’t stop there. Next it is the hair or eyes that need improvement. Wal-Mart clothing no longer suffices, so people are only content with clothes that their favorite pop and movie stars are wearing. The progress continues until adults can not find anything they like about themselves and want plastic surgery. We live in a society that idolizes blonde hair, blue eyes, busty women, tall men and super athletes. With all this pressure people put on themselves, it will obviously affect their children and how they view themselves.

Children view the world as a magical place where anything is possible, yet society pushes children to grow up quickly and exposes them to things that they are not capable of understanding. Children want to be like their parents and the pop star dancing provocatively on TV. While adults wish they were as innocent and free spirited as their children, kids want to be older so they can do grown-up things. The world is a strange paradox, somewhere that children want to be older and adults wish they were younger. Maybe there is a happy medium that can be attained, where people have the knowledge of adults and the joy and wonder of children.