The
World from a Child’s Eyes
Do
you remember running through the leaves during autumn? Wondering why the sky is
blue? Wondering why the wind blows, or asking your parents how we all got here?
These words are some of the most well-known questions that children ask their
parents. As children grow into responsible adults though, they lose the wonder
and awe that used to consume them; however certain books and authors have
allowed us to tap back into the part of ourselves. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is possibly the biggest
example of a book that allows us to see the world through s child’s eyes. Though
it can be argued that some adults are able to keep a piece of this view, this
book proves otherwise. This book proves many facts because it allows us to see
the lack of danger children observe in the world, it portrays this view
deteriorating from children as they grow older, and it shows us why this view
is so precious to our hectic society.
Children
are unable to see the dangers in life because they are too busy having fun and
playing around. Most kids don’t see a problem with going over to a new friend’s
house, playing in the park at night, or waiting in line by themselves to go on
a theme park ride. As adults however, we see he dangers in everything. We see
someone dangerous lurking in the park a night, possible dangers involving the
new friend’s parents, and of course the chance of someone taking our children
while they wait in line for a ride. Children are programmed to see the good in
life and to live carefree. In growing up and watching adults they learn to see
the negative in the world. Children grow every day in school through play,
imagination, and friendship. They’re imagination allows them to create new and exciting
games that seem foreign to adults, but it makes them happy. Their lack of
knowledge allows them to explore the world with excitement in their hearts and
brightness in their eyes. In Ken Robinsons’, “How School Kills Creativity”, he
explains that kids need creativity and imagination in order to grow. http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html.
Their lack of knowledge, but great sense
of creativity allows us as adults to see what they see. We can see it in their
actions, however it becomes most prominent in their art work and their speech. This
allows them to share what they see with us. The lack of danger that they
observe allows them to be children and grow up at their own pace. It allows
them to keep their innocence as well as their carefree attitude for a longer
amount of time.
As
children grow into adults their beautiful and innocent view of the world starts
to vanish. Growing up kids watch cartoons rather than the news. They don’t
understand what’s going on when the news talks about destruction, but when they
grow up that’s all we see. Most people get so caught up in their lives at work
and at home that they lose the innocence they once possessed. In Ann Harth’s, “Through
the Eyes of a Child”, http://www.annharth.com/EyesofaChild.html,
she poses a question: “What comes to
mind when you hear the word ‘car’?” An adult may automatically think of getting
a car wash, getting the oil changed, and even rotating the tires, but a child
sees the excitement of the possibility of sitting shotgun, getting to roll down
the automatic windows, and dancing in the car while listening to the music. As
you can see in the rest of her article, something in the brain changes when a
child grows into an adult. Worry, expectations, hard work, deadlines, stress
and more cause those innocent and naïve views to change. As adults they no
longer view the world as a beautiful and safe place, but rather a place where
danger and evil is hidden. People tend
to lose sight of what’s important to them because they’re so busy trying to
provide for a family or make sure all of their work gets completed within the
short hours of the day. Adults put so much on their plate that they forget to
take the time to stop and look around. They forget to see the beauty around
them, whereas children can’t help but take all of that in. They can’t get rid
of that wonder and awe, yet somehow it evaporates before their eyes as they
enter adulthood. In another study called “Through A Child’s Eyes” by Nisha
Giridharan the found similar reactions. http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/news/the-world-through-a-child-s-eyes-1.1564673.
The adults in the study mistook how large or small an item was. In this study
they had movement of the child and parents around. If parents handed the child
something the adult felt themselves grab the items. However, they would miss
things that were small and over compensate for items that were larger. They
view things to be bigger than usual. This shows that with growth and development
children’s perspectives change. Sandra
Cisneros shows many different characters with different views of the world. As
Esperanza, she sees many older people being negative and doing things she’s
never seen before, but as Esperanza grows she starts to understand what they
see. Her view of a beautiful and innocent world starts to change with the
knowledge she gains.
 |
| innocence |
A
child’s perspective is one of the most valuable things in life. It is a
blessing to all because it allows adults to receive that taste of innocence
they once had. If you ever see a parent, most of the time they are playing
around (running, jumping, dancing, and skipping) because of their children.
Children bring out the inner child that society has caused every adult to
suppress because it isn’t “natural” or “acceptable” behavior. In the TED Talk
by Ken Robinson, he explains how creativity and imagination needs to be let
back into adult life. Meaning it needs to be incorporated back into work
places. This would allow for each adult’s childish perspective to come out and
be shared. The possibilities of new inventions and idea would be endless. A
child’s perspective allows us to view the innocence and creativeness that they
hold in their minds. This is something we lose as we gain knowledge and a sense
of hard work and stress. Some people would argue that they still have a
childish perspective; however, one cannot simply walk into an attorney’s office
and bring about their “child-like” ideas. They are certain requirements of professionalism
that need to be met daily.
 |
| Creativity |
Though
people may argue that seeing the world through a child’s eyes isn’t that important,
it allows us to see the world in a whole new light. It allows us to view the
world without danger, to see a world with their innocent perspectives, and it
shows us why this view is valuable to society. Seeing the world through a child’s
eyes is one thing that is hard for people as they grow up. People start to lose
their sense of innocence, creativeness, and excitement. They become more
wrapped up in work, stress, and everyday tasks that need to be done. This view
allows people to take a step back, remember what it felt like to be a child,
and relax for a few minutes so that they can value and really take in what each
child portrays to them and the world.
Works Cited
Giridharan, Nisha. "Virtual
Reality Allows Adult's to See World Through Child's Eyes." N.p., 16 Aug.
2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.
Popova, Maria. "Brain
Pickings." Brain Pickings RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
"Through the Eyes of a
Child." Through the Eyes of a Child. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
"The World Looks Bigger Through
A Virtual Child's Eyes." Popular Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec.
2013.
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