Childhood in Wilderness Essay

The Wilderness of Childhood

Childhood as we once knew it, exists no more. Prisoners of parental control, children are being denied access from the privileges of imagination that their own parents once cherished. We now live in a society in which the free-spirited child does not exist. At times it seems as if parents are being deliberately encouraged to fear for their childrens lives, says Chabon. The sad part is, todays children know nothing more than what is put before them. If only they couldve seen their parents, spreading their wings, learning from their mistakes, and soaring through childhood, with nothing but their own free will to guide them. This was true wilderness.

My passage of focus deals with the factor of control in a childs life. As a parent himself, Michael Chabon introduces scenarios in which parents are guilty of control. But are they really guilty, or are parents victims of societys parental expectations? While reading this passage, certain ideas began to fall into place. It makes you wonder if technology is at fault. Children are receiving cell phones at alarmingly young ages. Is this generosity on our parents part, or is it a tool for control? The answer to that is clear. Chabon describes the environment as the basis for a childs imagination. A child is only as free as his or her boundaries. Chabon describes parents as chauffeurs, preventing children from discovering the lands between their destinations. Chabon is all too familiar with modern day parenting, as he later admits to falling into this trap himself.

What I have gotten out of this passage is that the author is not writing a commentary on the absence of imaginative freedom. Through Chabons words, I sense an emotional tie to this subject. Chabon is doing more in this text than addressing a problem in society. One might even say The Wilderness of Childhood is inspirational, an idea that I firmly advocate. What bothers me the most is the theory of increased consciousness of safety and danger. When Chabon addresses this I realized that I couldnt agree more. Parents of present day take every precaution to monitor their children, from GPS tracking in their phones, to restricting their children to riding their bikes within their own block. Readily available are statistics that prove that the safety of children has remained the same in the past decade, yet parents are so focused on dictating and influencing every step their children take. Chabons words are not dramatic, but rather passionate for the absent wilderness he once lost himself in, everyday. My own generation as well as future generations have been born into a world of constant change. Through Chabons words I have come to realize one thing. Wilderness is not only defined by trees, rivers and the untamed, but rather the freedoms granted to you by your parents.