Early childhood

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How Early Childhood Experience Affect Adulthood
Throughout our lives, a lot of things play a role in influencing our behavior. These things have a way of defining our attitude within the society. Parents are the first people to interact with a child, and they play a huge role in influencing the child’s attitude and behavior. The parents have the power to affect their children in either a positive or a negative manner. A perfect example of how parent mentors their children is exhibited in the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”. We find Atticus, the father to Scout and Jem, as a kind, loving and a well-informed father. On the other hand, Radley was an abusive, neglecting and a drunken father who is an excellent example of negative inspiration. Many characteristics of parents are usually passed down to their own children. Childhood experiences tend to affect the life of an individual later in life. In reference to Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the things told through Scout’s eye deeply affected Jem since Scout is perceived to have more experience and knowledge about the world. This perception gave Jem the view of adulthood.
Children have less knowledge about many things; hence they tend to learn from looking at the surrounding and getting into things that do not involve them. Children often emulate what adults do and this influence their world. In this particular novel, Boo was the key figure that changed the way Scout viewed the world.

One notable scenario is when Scout discovered the chewing gum left in the knothole tree near her home. She informed Jem about the gift and was made to spit and clean her mouth. This made the children fear Radley’s property. Children tend to trust the inner sense of right and wrong from a very young age and when given contradicting information they will begin to doubt themselves (Lee 195). Children are usually encouraged to think of themselves as responsible and provide reliable and accurate information.
Atticus is an astute man. He instils conscience in his children by fostering the virtue of justice and equality. He encourages his children to call him by his name in an attempt to make them practically interrelate on equivalent terms as possible. He helps his children to be much conscious by telling Scout to put herself in his shoes before he makes a judgement about him. He teaches his children to make their decision in a just manner without fear of isolation or ridicule. He practically does this by representing Robin knowing well that he faces harsh consequences from the community. In a society that is very judgmental, some people find it hard to cope with the culture. Therefore, Atticus tries to break that perception and encourage his children to be rational other than prejudicing people which cripple and disables them. He teaches his children to emulate standards, and he even goes to the extent of denying his son unfair protection from the law because he believed that his son Jem killed Bob Ewell.
When children begin to trust themselves from the early age, it will later develop into a much reliable personality in their adulthood. From the Novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the children found a shiny thing in the knothole; they found out that it was polished Indian pennies, and this continued as the children kept finding different gifts on that tree. After some time, they discovered that the Knothole tree was sealed using cement. They Waited for Mr. Radley and asked about the issue. The children were told that the tree was sick and he had to plug it with cement. The truth was that Mr. Radley’s brother is the one who filed the knothole with cement. The children believed that Bradley had more information about trees, so they believed him. When Atticus arrived home and told the father about it, he supported Bradley argument claiming that he had more knowledge about the trees. In the story “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Scout reminiscences about an event that occurred for three years.
The story was about her father’s lawyer who was representing a black American man who was being charged with raping a white lady. The first part of the novel talks about how Jem and Scout were fascinated by their neighbor known as Radley. In the second part, it focuses on the consequences Scout’s father had to face for representing Robinson who is a black man. It was a big case for Mr. Atticus given the fact that he lived in a neighborhood that subscribed to racial codes and stereotype. Representing the black man exposed the family to condemnation from the community around. This shows how racial prejudice affects the mind and hearts of children. The effect on the child’s mind cannot be undone. These stores form the children’s notion of what justice is, it influences the development of children attitude, telling of stories to children help to develop the social skills and enable them to have a vision of how certain people and thing are. When children become adult, the same stories they were told when young replicates. Storytelling has the power to influence a child judgement since children tend to inscribe their vision of right and wrong into their daily activity.
This experiences whether positive or negative play critical role in shaping their adulthood. Atticus took the responsibility of influencing his children’s life by setting a good example and developing their characters. He encourages them to adopt ethical values that will help define them in their adulthood. He defied the destructive racism that borders them by his statements and his effort to defend Tom Robinson (Lee 221). His efforts made his children to embrace other people and not to acquire the racist attitudes. This approach enabled his children to escape the social disease. In addition, Jem and Scout learnt to reject cruelty and respect life. The advice not “To Kill A Mockingbird” holds a deeper meaning, and Scout comprehended this as seen by how she acted protectively toward Bradley. Atticus kids grew to respects the system of justice; this is because their father taught them on how to react to the basic justice positively. Throughout the book, Atticus encourage his children to become tolerate of other people regardless of their races status and behavior.
Atticus taught his children based on integrity, courage, perspective and justice, the three essential values. He encouraged them to hold the moral value and provided them with the crucial insight of the Maycomb community. The children were encouraged to emulate their father’s character to remaining tolerant despite being surrounded by racist neighbors. Scout and Jem grew up to become obedient and respectful; this was motivated by their father who encouraged them to consider Calpurnia who is a black woman as a member of their family despite being a descendant of the slaves. They learnt to treat her with respect, which is contradictory to the customs of the white. He goes ahead to defend a black man in front of his kids; an action which was meant to teach them about the importance of protecting innocent people regardless of their racial background. It is worth to mention that stories are a very powerful tool to transform the world. Particularly in children. It tells about people’s intention and achievements (Lee 221). The stories help to create images on our mind and make sense of events. Stories shape the children perception of the world. In particular, “To Kill A Mockingbird” sharpen the children empathy and awareness. The primary message from this novel is that insight is fundamental to moral development. Atticus led by example by repeatedly acting in compassion to others.
The stories told to children will influence how children will act on the social construct of race. It replicates in the justice and the social system, and they have massive potential to impact on both good and evil. Storytelling highlights the existing social relations; they help connect the systemic social pattern and individual experience. Atticus tried to change this norm by telling his children about stories that undercut the dominant story and promote justice; he even advised his children to forget how Fiches were supposed to behave. The principle used by Atticus was that until you get the point of view of a person, you cannot claim to understand the person. Initially, Scout was unable to understand why his father was representing a black man against the local opinion. His father was trying to shape them into tolerant adults. Through the successive generations, stories have been transmitted as a social norm in the Deep South, as a child reaches age 10, already he/she had taken up the stories that he/she heard when young and signed the general responsibility of doing the things like ridiculing people of some particular race. In the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” Radley moulded the character of both Scout and Jem. He made them understand that judgements are only made based on actions and not based on insubstantial.
The ghost story of the neighborhood terrified the children that they injured themselves while escaping while Jem left his pants there tore, they found it the next day all sewn up. Furthermore, when Miss Maudie house was blazing, the kids sat down in the cold some anonymous person gave them blankets. They later came to learn that Boo was not an evil person and therefore people should not be judged based on anything rather than their actions. The environment upon which a child grows play a significant role in the growth of the children, the story surrounds racism, injustice and the coexistence between good and evil. Therefore, the children will pick any personality depending on the script they subscribe. Consequently, an influence from an older person is what will modify their attitude. For example, Miss Maudie hog had great respect for Atticus encouraged Atticus children to trust their father and ignore what the gossip perpetrated by the neighbors and the children at the playground. The gossip was stirred up by his support for Tom Robinson.
While Scout was in school and a subject of racism popped up, Miss Gates, her teacher ignored that discussion because it was forbidden and this made Scout perceive the school as useless. They then began to confront the injustice that was done to Robinson and acknowledge that racial segregation that exists within their community influence the justice system. Maudie helped the children see how their father was a man of humble, trustworthy and strong man. History influence the legal system operation and the social construction of race. The power of story can be seen on how the American the supremacy in the post-civil war in the Deep South. The story was spread to justify the segregation and inequality. Such story influenced the mindset on how we view the world, mainly in children (Lee 258). The children were made to believe Black were not allowed to have either political or economic power. One notable characteristic that children inherit is a stereotype. A stereotype is a fixed idea about a particular thing, and it affects both the children’s behavioral choices and their identity. Stereotype positions people in situations where they strongly believe they might be treated differently because of their behavior.
It is worth to mention that the early childhood environment influences a person’s mental illness, literacy problem, criminal activity. For example, children learn language skills through interaction with adults and other children. In fact, by the age of 4 months, the child has developed a neurological connection that helps them interact with the adult environment. Many things are acquired through interaction. When a child is ignored and not allowed to socialize, it will affect their development. In the book, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the whites were limited on how they could interact with the black Americans. In conclusion, it is important to note that as we move into the future, we are also throwing our children into the future with our stories.
Therefore, the children should be fed with stories of positivity and equality across the races. It is necessary to tell counter stories to the children mainly about the law profession. The legal profession needs reform to encourage the children and young students in the quest to renew hope for a just system of all the races. The critical point in this papers is that the surrounding strongly influences early childhood experiences. The first eight years of development will affect child’s economic participation, education, believes, and perception. Besides, the culture is a major player in influencing the child’s development. Most importantly prejudice help to define the attitude of the one towards a particular thing or person.
Works Cited
BIBLIOGRAPHY Lee, Harper. “To Kill A Mockingbird”. New York: Grand Central, 1960.