Innocence

When you see a child smile, or when you see a child laugh, isn't there some sort of magic in the air? Something so unique, so exquisite? It is the wonderful quality that children are divine because of innocence.

You might question why your child is not paying enough attention to what is really important, or in other words, what you think is important. Why aren't they even bothering to watch the news?
Why do they feel upset whenever you tell them that they have to go inside and do their homework?

Why is it that whenever adults discuss the complicated, sometimes very negative aspects of life, such as war, massacres, assassinations, child trafficking, poverty, starvation, cruelty, abductions and death they seem to be flabbergasted?  They can't seem to understand these concepts properly.  They seem so strange, so out of place; it is a totally other world.

Children have an innocence that only exists within them. They have a way of taking life quite simply, and they have a way of not fretting over what we may consider a total catastrophe.

The world is such a strange place to them outside the playground and their bed; they stumble onto a world of strange mentalities, of strange thoughts, of scary people with scary natures.

I once was discussing something with a friend about the earthquake in Haiti when the girl's little sister, who I believe was about 4 at the time, came over and asked me, "What are you doing?"

I told her that we were talking about the "bad" thing that happened in Haiti, and eventually I had to explain the meaning of the word "earthquake" to her. She demanded to see a picture of the "thingee" that happened in Haiti, so I opened the computer and googled it. I told her that these were the people from Haiti who have lost their homes and families to the tragedy.  Then she asked me a very queer question.  She asked me, "Why don't they sing 'Twinkle Twinkle'? That song always makes me happy!"

Even at 13, I feel as if I'm centuries away from understanding the mentality of children.

Children are unbelievably simple and yet, unbelievably complex.

I wonder if we brought the children of the world together, and let them tell the world what they are thinking, what would they say?

Children don’t have an obsession about race the way many teens and adults do. If you put an Asian child with an African child, and an Arab child and with a European child, I can promise you, that unless they were raised wrongly, they would love each other and like each other regardless of what their epidermis and their face is. It is something so easy for them, but it is something quite difficult for adults.

Children are a handful, children are curious, and children want to know more about the world. They have a soul for exploration, for adventure, for fun, and as much as you may disagree, for knowledge.

But regardless of the situation and the way the child might be living, when you put aside all the toys and gadgets, there is only one thing a child desires more than anything in this universe: love.

Written and done by: Meera Maaytah, 8