Why childhood is important?

Our childhood is important for many reasons. We all would not be who we are today if it weren’t for our childhood, good or bad. Childhood establishes the groundwork for lifelong education, conduct, and wellbeing. Any disruptions and chaos during our formative years can have lasting effects well into adulthood. The experiences we have in childhood influence our brain's capacity to understand and learn, how we socialize with others, and how we respond to day-to-day stressors and challenges.

LEARNING

Our ability to learn and comprehend is determined in our childhood. Our learning is supposed to start at home as soon as we are born. For those of us that had this experience, once we entered school, we had some confidence in ourselves that we could handle the next stage of our lessons. Those who did not have this experience usually felt inferior in the school environment and possibly did not have faith in the adults, the school, or themselves. Either childhood journey created the path that would influence how we learn and accept new information in the future. Research has shown that college graduates frequently had the former journey while criminals in the penal system had the latter. This example is not always the case, and there are always exceptions; however, this example illustrates how vital childhood learning is in determining success vs. challenges in adulthood.

SOCIALIZATION

During our childhood, we primarily see social interactions between family members and close family friends. These are the social examples we observe to show us how we are supposed to interact with people. If we see interactions full of hugs, affection, laughter, and love, we mimic that behavior in our interactions and expect reciprocity. However, if we see interactions full of violence, anger, yelling, and hate, we mimic and expect that behavior. We all have met people and wondered why they are so sweet or so mean, then we meet their family, and it all makes sense. Our childhood teaches how to treat people and how we should expect to be treated. Childhood can determine if a person will marry a loving or abusive person. 

COPING

Life is full of obstacles and challenges. Stress in our lives is the rule versus the exception. How we react and respond to these stressors and challenges will be determined by how we were taught to deal with them. In our childhood, we watch everything our parents and other adults in our lives do. We tend to do what they do instead of what they say, including developing coping skills. If we see that a parent can get through the hard times by drinking alcohol every night, we will probably use that same coping skill and become an alcoholic. If we see a parent reading the bible or going to church during a hard time, we are likely to make religion and faith a part of our daily lives. Childhood is important because it is the journey that leads to happy adult life.