Feral Children Research

Ashley Shelton

Mrs. Knight

English III Honors

May 20, 2014

Is it Possible to Bring Feral and Wild Children Back to Reality?

As children, we all read stories of wild children. We most likely never understood what “wild children” were. “Wild children” are sometimes referred to as feral children. However, feral children and “wild children” are two completely opposite ideas. A wild child is a feral child, but a feral child does not have to be classified as a “wild child”. A “wild child” is raised by an animal from an infant, because a parent has neglected them. Whereas, a feral child is, most likely, still in the home of the parent, but the parent has no communication with the child. An example of this is keeping a child locked up for long periods of time, and treating him/her different from the other children. A feral child is defined as a child who is isolated from human contact at a very young age (“Feral Children”). Feral children have “little to no experience of human care and no social abilities” (“Feral Children”). We see the use of feral children throughout the different types of literature. In literature, we read about feral children and “wild children” more during the Victorian Era. In modern day, and throughout literature, a reader can see that feral children can commonly be brought back to reality if they are helped or relieved from their stress at an early age.

In modern day literature we have heard of many instances of “wild children”. Fictional, yes, but these books give you an idea of what a “wild child” is. In the book/movie Tarzan, the main character, Tarzan, is a feral child. His parents left him at an early age and he was raised by monkeys. He communicated like a monkey and walked as a monkey would. Although Tarz...

... middle of paper ...

...ormation is here for only a certain time. After this time is past, the opportunity is gone and most likely will not be gained back (“A Feral Child’s Journey”). Feral children are, in most cases, not mentally handicapped, undeveloped, or have anything wrong with them. In fact, statistics show most feral children are actually born very healthy. “Some feral children go so far as to have wealth throughout the family” (“Feral Children Complex”). Being a feral child does not depend upon the child. Being a feral child depends on the parents and how they choose to raise a child. It can be hard to “point out the difference from a feral child than a child who may only have autism” (“A Feral Child’s Journey”). Feral children can be helped and saved from the torment he/she is living in. It is a matter of timing and brain development as to how far a person can go to help them.