Safe and serene are often two feelings possessed by a child who has not yet tasted the bitterness of reality. When you’re just a kid, nothing can breach the warm embrace of a loving mother, and your father is as invincible as a superhero. When you’re just a kid, you can hide away in a sea of blankets that have been propped up by chairs and broomsticks, your own private haven. Then there comes that day, when the real world tears down the layers of your sanctuary, rips you from your mothers clutch and proves your father is weak. The look on a child’s face when they get hit with the harshness of actuality for the first time, is enough to remind you just how cruel the world really is.

There are many different ways to taint a childhood. Our society has flourished in taking the innocent and molding them into stiff, overworked prototypes. Step back and take a long, hard look at the examples that have been set for generations to come. I see war; and I’m not talking about the card game. I see issues about race; and I’m not talking about who runs the fastest. Stripping each adolescent of their unique persona by foisting high expectations of prosperity and being well educated. Thrusting the dangers of the world upon them, and denouncing their freedom with all the “do this”, and “don’t to that”. The pressure of perfection and constant requests of playing it safe are too much weight to bare, and eventually their individualities shatter to the point of no repair.

The sound of mulch being flung by the pitter patter of a child’s running feet. The squeaking of the chain link swings as I pump my legs back and fourth, while a little girl squeals with joy as she descends down a big red slide. When I think of childhood, this memory comes to mind. Its a scene full of guiltlessness and zero care. Unfortunately I too have been engulfed by the tutelage, and compressed into a mold that I’m confident my more juvenile self would not fit in. Now all that is left of my untouched imagination is locked away in memories that will eventually fade.

The plundering of each child’s ability to maintain their innocence throughout a lifetime is iniquitous. A habitual process that needs serious alterations. I want to see change. I want to see adults play well with others, practice sharing, and always try climbing to the highest branch on the tree, no matter how much sap they get on their hands. Instead of trying to contaminate these fresh minds with loads of brutality and worries and expectancies, why don’t we try learning from them? Lets all live a little.