The Deterioration of Childhood Innocence Due to Media and Consumerism

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Recommended: Childhood in contemporary society

“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see,” said Neil Postman in his novel: The Disappearance of Childhood. In recent generations, the ideal of childhood innocence has been disappearing due to several factors of modernization. But the innocence of youth needs to be protected so children will learn and grow in healthy ways, rather than rush into adulthood. It is a grown-ups’ responsibility to build a metaphorical wall between a child’s innocence and various types of media and consumerism. Although it is becoming increasingly difficult due to the powerful world of media, which constantly reinvents itself to outwit the latest parental imposition, the preservation of innocence is not impossible. The innocence of children is what turns them into successful adults, and how well adults do at this job may determine our planet’s future survival. The concept of childhood innocence is rapidly dying due to electronic media such as the television, the internet and corporations that use children as a commodity such as Disney, ultimately illustrating that adults must fight to preserve childhood innocence.
Before the 1700’s, what we today understand as “childhood” and the innocence that comes with it did not exist because of extreme poverty and high infant mortality rates. It was normal for children to help with labour, be at parties with adults and even dress and have the same postures as adults. Medieval childhood mostly undifferentiated from adulthood until the industrial revolution. With the emergence of a larger middle class and disposable income, toy stores, schools and even houses built with nurseries were established. Thus, childhood was discovered and “increasingly, the child became an object of respect, and a s...

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...ally acquire adult knowledge. Children are beautiful because they possess something that we have all lost – the quality of innocence. “We wish to keep adult knowledge from children because for all if its reality, too much of it too soon is quite likely dangerous to the well-being of an informed mind.” - Postman

Works Cited

Giroux, Henry A. "Stealing Of Childhood Innocence-Disney And The Politics Of Casino Capitalism: A Tribute To Joe Kincheloe." Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies 10.5 (2010): 413-416. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.

Heather L. Kirkorian. and Ellen A. Wartella. and Daniel R. Anderson. "Media and Young Children's Learning." The Future of Children 18.1 (2008): 39-61. Project MUSE. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .

Postman, Neil. The Disappearance of Childhood. New York: First Vintage Books Edition,1994. Print.

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