Feral Children- The Power of Socialization

Feral Children are an odd and disturbing social phenomenon. Nothing anywhere near as glamorous as Mowgli from the Jungle Book hanging around with noble, anthropomorphic wolves, or as theatrical as Nell, here are children so devoid of socialization, so cut off from social interaction that they have been deprived of the ability to function in the conventional social world.

One of the more prominent cases, of "Genie" , I've found on Youtube and plan to show in class as an example of the power and importance of socialization. We're not born with the culture and context of "appropriate" social behavior in us, and not having the primary socialization skills can be so detrimental to our long term growth that... well you can see the results here. Despite the age of the documentary, it still has a lot of validity.

Part 1 of "Secret of the Wild Children" here:

Its Officially a Trend- Still More Suicides.

The introductory chapter of the text I'm using this semester deals with the Megan Meier case and yes, I usually have to explain what Myspace is by know. It rather craftily explains the gravity of understanding social problems. Given the decidedly morbid topic, i've spent days tying this into the recent spike in teen suicides (and blogged about it a few times here) ...and have, as of this moment hit the wall. Still ANOTHER dead gay kid.

I believe we're officially way beyond individual issue and way into social problem territory.

 My heart aches for anyone who feels this alienated, this cut off from everyone and everything. I don't have the stomach to look into this more right now. My deepest sympathies to the boy's friends and family. My deepest disdain for a culture that ultimately failed him.

He was adorable and the world will be dimmer for his passing.