Do you think the increase of knowledge can cause one to lose their innocence?

Question

It seems our generation (boomers) stayed innocent longer because we had limited information at our disposal. Nothing like today with Internet, and 24-hour news TV and radio news etc. Everything is going so fast. Many adult topics today were never discussed when we were kids

Answer 1

The amount of available and intrusive information is so mind boggling, I sometimes have to just turn everything OFF and sit quietly for a while to "center" myself. I don't know if my "innocence" (an overrated quality, in my opinion) has been "lost" or if my sense of naivete has been temporarily misplaced.

But I also know that each generation has felt the same way. My grandmother used to fret that there was so much crime "nowadays" and that was back in the 1950's. My mother (her daughter) used to say that of course there was crime back in my grandmother's day, and probably the same amount but you just didn't hear about it as quickly because when my grandma was growing up in the 1890's the only source of news was the evening paper and talking "over the fence" with your neighbor. NO radio, no TV and certainly no Internet. My grandmother was "innocent" of many things up to her death at 88 in 1971.

You've asked a great, interesting question!

Answer 2

I think the Boomers were innocent longer but then a great deal of them are responsible for a a lot of good changes, but also bad changes that have resulted in out kids growing up faster. That and all the info coming at us fast from all areas..TV, Radio, Internet. I don't know what it is about this generation of 20 something. Yes I gave my kids more than I had but they did learn to clean , mow the lawn, take out the garbage, do their own laundry at 12, and had to work for things they wanted. So I don't think it is that. I think this younder generation has lost it's innocence because of the state of the world...many are jaded because of that and think I want what I want now, as who know how ling it will be here, when they might be thinking, how can I make the world a better place so that I have a future to look forward to for my children and so on. I admire many celebrities who have taken it upon themselves to give more because they are so blessed, but they are just generation behind us, 20's somethings adult children, in many cases are jaded and only think of themselves regardless of how they were raised. I think it is sad and I am glad I was raised back then, I even miss those times.

Answer 3

Looking back, I'm not so sure "innocence" is all that great. You can have a really rude awakening when you discover that things are not how you thought they were. Kids today might seem jaded to those of us who are older, but they might end up being better prepared for real life than we were.

No other species that I can think of coddles its offspring. Rather, they prepare them to live independently. Human children used to work on farms, in family businesses. When they came of age, they could take care of themselves. Then, we invented childhood. A magical time of no real responsibilities. What was the result? Too many young adults who lived with their parents, and couldn't even cook or do laundry.

Many parents gave their children things they didn't have growing up, so children were forced to take piano lessons (for instance), and the parents couldn't understand why their kids didn't appreciate it. The adults missed the point: they were making things up to the wrong person. They should have taken the piano lessons themselves, and tried to find out what their kids were interested in.

How many parents teach their children how to balance a checkbook, keep to a budget, or be responsible with credit? How many parents teach kids to delay gratification until they can pay for what they want, or save for the future?

I don't know that the Internet in and of itself will improve things because, as the saying goes, "garbage in, garbage out." But, I often wonder what my life might have been like if so much knowledge had been available to me when I was young.

I guess it comes down to how young people will use the information that's available to them, and that's where parents come in: teaching values. However, I do not think that knowledge is a bad thing, or that it's possible to know too much.
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Answer 4

Information does travel faster than when we boomers were growing up; and there are fewer 'filters' on the information. I suppose that access to information contributes to knowledge; but access to information doesn't necessarily increase knowledge. Access to information is important, but I think it is learning to evaluate information that increases knowledge-and that is the challenge I think our kids face; not a loss of innocence, but coping with the amount of information available and figuring out what is accurate and what is garbage.

Maybe loss of innocence was more of a solitary event that came at different ages for different people when we were growing up. Many of us younger boomers exerienced some loss of innocence by observing the reactions of the adults around us when assasinations occurred (JFK, RFK, MLK). Many of us had family members who served during WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War. We were victims of crime, or of abuse. We were injured or witnessed others being injured. Our parents became ill or incapcitated or died; and we took on more adult roles at a young age. We witnessed alcohol or drug abuse by those close to us. I don't think most of us kept our innocence; I think there may have been fewer opportunities to learn we were not alone in facing the harsh realities of life.

Answer 5

I'm a great believer that knowledge sets us free. But I do think that children are being bombarded with information that they are not ready for . It must be very confusing for them. I'm really glad I grew up in a time when we may have been curious, but we just had to wait until we were older before we could access the information we wanted.

Answer 6

I'm not sure knowledge is responsible for the loss of innocence. Knowledge is power in so many ways.

I think it's more our parents allowed us to be children , didn't dress us like little whores or let us out of the house looking like little whores. We couldn't wear make up until jr high or even hs, we weren't dating at 10 . There weren't music videos with girls and women shaking their breasts and rear ends around. We had decent role models and no entertainment tv to tell us they weren't good role models.
R rated stuff mean you couldn't see it . And we didn't have video machines or dvd or gameboys and xboxs with disgusting games that are sexist or just plain evil.

You didn't want to shame or embarss your parents and even chewing bubble gum in school was a major offense.

Nope I'm part of the media and I blame the record companies, the entertainment business, the hypocrisy of designers and stores which sell stuff to kids that makes them look like little hoochies.

Answer 7

Knowledge gives you the choice to do or not to do. When we were children we took the time to be kids. Our parents put more limitations on us.As our world is changing fast so is our children of today, times change, so do people change!

Answer 8

Knowledge is good and innocence is good.
Knowledge can protect innocence, and in this time of greater communication and risk is more needed than ever.
Jesus Christ was innocent but He certainly had knowledge.
'Innocence' without knowledge is without value because it is without protection, it would better called naivety.
'Naivety' is a state which one can only exist in if someone with 'knowledge' is prepared to protect.

Answer 9

Yes I agree. Younger and younger children are learning things now that I didn't know until my late teens and early twenties. Remember the movie Midnight Cowboy? It was rated X. Now it would be a PG13.

Answer 10

My dear lady, innocence did not go over the weigh side because of knowledge. Innocence was lost when it held hands with curiosity.