The Age of Innocence

In my view purely, it was the era of the dinosaurs. In lands not far away, in a time not long ago, children were synonyms of innocence, they grew up in naïveville. They took their time growing up. Period. Childhood was spent daydreaming, playing house – house, building sand castles and exchanging dolls. Happy hours began at 5 pm when the neighbourhood was invaded by kids, their bat & balls and little cycles.

Today seems to have evolved into a dark and twisted age, where, kids feed on play stations, attend free style dance classes, before they learn their ABC’s know names of their favourite cartoon characters. They even know how to operate the CD player and their dads’ laptops. Nursery rhymes seem to be a thing of the past, I was told by my nephew, clad in a batman costume who then happily showed off his skills to ‘Pappu cant dance saala’. Another kid I know, the first three words he’s learnt are – ‘mom’, ‘give’ and ‘mastaa’. The last word courtesy his fathers love for Metallica’s -Master of Puppets. So cute.

My first visit to a Salon was at the age of 18 and never once was I made to feel like an alien before it. Today there are salons for kids 1-15 years of age offering services like hair straightening, manicures, pedicures, threading, waxing etc. An article quoting mothers read, they felt their kids, if well groomed, were more confident. This makes me question the very foundation that kids are made to believe - outer beauty is the road to inner confidence. Not only are we instating shallowness, but fostering a plastic generation. As a little girl, I believed it was my birth right to try out mom’s new lipstick, as soon as she’d left the room, but to get my nails buffed while she waited for her pedicure, was an unthinkable treat.
Today’s ‘judge a book by its cover’ generation has blurred the thin line between being well groomed and being a narcissist. Finding comfort in one’s own skin has become a privilege of history.

The first time I spoke to a boy fully aware of my sexuality, was when I was 15. I’m thus taken aback when kids in playschool today, will not only list their girlfriends, but can tell you exactly why a boy is different from a girl. The birds and the bees really have no place left in one’s imagination. The ease with which they single out the pretty from the not so pretty ones is heartbreaking. When I was that age, irrespective of size, shape, colour, body hair, everyone was pretty (mom had me believe that - the only way I’d go to school!)

Are kids solely to be blamed when media exposure in today’s cyber age is slowly chewing away at the virgin mind? When Disney role models like Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens pose for lingerie or part nude, is anyone measuring the repercussions? When TV programmes have participating kids immolating steps that make judges cringe, while proud parents cheer on. Who is to be blamed, in this rush for fame?

Kids today spread their wings faster than the time we took to hatch, maybe it has its benefit, but the death of gibberish innocence that childhood once stood for is pitiful.