Copilarie

The human being is, by nature and definition, a creature that is always in pursuit of a goal. Humans must always have what to do, somewhere to go, people to meet, great things to achieve. For each age there are certain goals that every one of us tries to achieve, and these goals are unique for every person out there. Thus, we can say that the human being is a being defined by evolution. On its quest to find knowledge, understanding, love, friendship or other things, one evolves from a simple and innocent child to a responsible and complex adult.

Children start setting their own goals at different ages. In the early stages of their childhood, children can’t think further then their immediate needs. Needs like food, water, sleep, love, someone to play with, fun, and other such things. The complicated process of maturing starts when a child feels the need of other things, besides these. Things like a family, friends, people who can listen to him and understand him are things that matter more and more to the growing human. After reaching puberty, that adolescence, children feel the need of a person of the opposite sex close to them. After that period, the child is stating to become and adult, with a defined personality, and can then start to achieve his life-lasting goals: happiness, success, money, a happy family, and many, many more. But it all starts in childhood. That’s the most important period of anybody’s life.

In the first years of a child’s life, his brain focuses on some simple, yet very important tasks. Food, water and company are the most important things in the toddler’s life. Until he’s 2-3 years old, the child has to be fed by his parents, who must also offer him a cozy and loving home. Mostly people misjudge the importance of this period in a child’s life. If he is used with love and care since he is small, he’ll be a happy and warm person all his life. The loss of one parent in this period, caused by accidents, divorce or other types of separation can have drastic effects on the personality of the child. He will always need the lost mother or father, and no-one will ever be able to fill that goal in his heart. It is in these times when parents must be very careful what they do around the child, how they act and how they take care of him, for if they do this well, he will grow up nicely. In this time he will learn to speak, walk, and other such things, and thus he will start to be a social person, communicating with the others.

Now start a different phase of his growth. As the child reaches 4, 5 or 6 years of age, his needs will start to get more and more complex. One of the most important things he will focus on in this period is … fun. He will always want to play, to have toys, to make fun things, to learn new things, and thus he will want to have company from and with which to learn these things. The parents must thus spend time with the child; try to show him a little bit of everything there is to know about the world outside. In this period, the child is very, very curios. He will always ask questions, and one of his favorites will be “Why?” Good answers for these questions are necessary, and the parents must always be ready to give them. Playing with children is also very important, and must be done as often as possible. This is the last phase of a child’s growth where the whole responsibility is in the arms of the parents. In the next phase, school will play a very important part in a child’s life.

Now begins a whole new life for children. At school, they one of the first things that they learn is that they’re not the most important person in the world and that there are other kids, just like them, sitting in the benches near them. Here a child learns discipline, respect, and here he finds all the knowledge he will ever want. Teachers will always be ready to answer his every question. He will find colleagues, and make friends that could last a lifetime. This period is very important in a child’s evolution. Children are all sociable persons, and only society can change this. So if children can maintain their level of sociability throughout school, he will have a lifetime to make all the friends he will need. The most important qualities in these days are creativity, adaptability and teamwork. All these are based on bonds made with other people, and the knowledge to create these bonds is gained in this period of a child’s life. Parents mustn’t leave all the work of raising their child to the school; they must also offer him all the conditions necessary for him to succeed.

In the next period, once he finishes his elementary studies, a child start to have more and more complex needs. He start to search for groups of people that accept him as he is, groups who understand him and who value him. From this moment on, the entourage of a child is very, very important. Friends can have a big word in the evolution of a child, and peer pressure can lead him to bending the rules, or, even worst, start to have some bad habits. In this period, some children start smoking, skipping school, getting bad marks, and other such things. It is also the time that they reach puberty, and thus start to feel stronger and stronger attractions for the opposite sex. In this period they start to define their personality. They start to have their own passions, needs, likes and dislikes, their principles; they’re starting to act like responsible people. Starting to build up their own life.

Then, they reach adolescence. Children are now teenagers. From this moment on, their needs look like the needs of an adult. They need company, love, understanding, the feeling that they belong somewhere and with someone. They have their own ideas, and are willing to fight for them. Teenagers are the engine of the world. They have new ideas, they are creative, and they have all the time in the world to try to makes their ideas happen. They need encouragement, and with that, they can achieve great things. Enthusiasm, pride and the need to feel important are things that define every teenager. This is the last period of their childhood, and the first of their adult life.

Now, we can’t talk about a child anymore. We’re talking about an adult. But, in the end, every adult has the soul of a child. You’ll always see 40-year-olds playing soccer, watching cartoons, or laughing at jokes. After all these years, children have gone from being totally dependant on their parents, to living their own life and being independent. And what have we learned from all this?
That a child is a unique being. That childhood is the most important part of a human’s evolution. Everything that ever touches a child in any way has an effect on his personality. Everything is important and must be taken into consideration: parents, friends, enemies, passions, relationships, ups and downs, wins and losses, everything has a word to say. The evolution of a human being is a very complex process, that has been happening for thousands of years. We’re now starting to understand it, but may never discover all it’s secrets. Until then, go out and play, feed the child in you.