Assignment 4 Danielle Dutton

To be frank, I’ve lived a sheltered life. My mom tried her best for the longest time to keep me “innocent” and “protect” me from all the depressing things in the real world. And I’ve never really been one to argue with or question authority, so I just let it happen. However, as soon as I got old enough to realize my naivety, I began to question the decisions of my parents to shelter me more than others were sheltered. I don’t question the motive, I just question the course of action. Parents want their children to be happy and safe all the time. It’s an admirable aspiration, just unrealistic.

The internet was the wrecking ball to the little wall of naivety around my mind. There’s no way to keep a pre-teen/teenager protected in the depths of the web without major breaches of privacy, and my parents aren’t overbearing in their oversight. Without oversight I began to think for myself, and I began to question. When I questioned, I found answers one way or another. When I found answers, I came to the realization that the world isn’t what I thought it was. I’m not saying the world is a bad place, I’m just saying it’s not all sunshine and roses as I once thought it was.

Personally, I don’t think parents should shelter their kids as much as I was sheltered because when I learned the truth it was shocking. However, I can’t deny the fact that I think it has helped me in a way. I won’t pretend like I no longer have the slightest semblance of naivety, but I do think that now I’m more able to question and realize when people, including myself, are being naïve. I’m more able than many of my friends to realize when something isn’t quite right, and I think it’s because I harbor a mistrust of naivety because of my early childhood. So a questionable parenting decision did garner me an advantage – just probably the opposite of the one anticipated.