Children nowadays seem to have much more freedom and privileges. They
have various forms of entertainment, from elaborate toys to all the
exciting video games, and it seems that they should be satisfied with
all these pleasures. But the fact of the matter is, they may enjoy less
freedom when compared with children in the past.
For one thing, children in the story, The Lottery, written by
Shirley Jackson, were considered adults in the lottery ritual. Although
they were not given the right to draw for the entire household, they
shared the responsibility of the outcome equally when their households
were met with the black spot. And even when the children got the paper
with a black spot on it, they were to be stoned to death as well. It is
just one of the examples that demonstrate that children of the past
enjoyed more privilege or more respect in some ways. The parents
wouldn』t prevent them from attending the lottery even though it was a
cruel ritual for little children. Being brought up under these
circumstances, children of the past are bound to develop a certain
degree of maturity early.
Compared with the children in The Lottery,
children nowadays seem to be limited in certain rights. They are not
allowed to take part in many public affairs, such as voting, and are
often over-protected by adults. We establish various laws to protect
children from TV violence, sex, adults』 movies, etc. And just a week
ago, a female legislator demanded that the government set up laws to
label the romance novels in the market so as to protect our children
from getting in touch with that kind of material. In my personal
opinion, it is unnecessary to do so. If we always give children too
much protection, they will never know how to tell the right from the
wrong. They will never have the chance to experience the world and
learn about its diversity, and probably they wouldn』t even know when
they are going the wrong way. What』s worse, they won』t have their own
points of view; they will always look at the world from their teachers』
and parents』 points of view. They will lack creativity and
imagination.
Too much protection only weakens our children. It
might be much more beneficial to just let them explore the world on
their own. I believe that they can learn the right from wrong through
their own experience. And therefore, they will find out the best
lifestyles that suit them and set up their own philosophy of life.