Genie The Deprived Child

I asked my students to watch this YouTube video on Genie, who was a child raised in isolation by his father. She was 13 when she was discovered. She could barely stand and so thin and frail. She cannot speak. She was locked up in a room and was tied to her potty chair. When she was brought to the hospital she had callous in her buttocks from sitting too long in the potty chair. She was like a blind child, who seems to experience the world for the first time.


This topic on Genie were the result of our class discussion on Social Interaction and the importance of interaction in the survival of humans.

Babies and children in particular need interaction from significant others; their parents, siblings and even relatives and neighbors. It is their basis for the formation of their personality. Through language babies learn the everyday rules of social interaction. They can also get cues from facial expression and the tone of the voice.

Children needs warm, love and care especially the love coming from the mother. That is why massage therapy is important in pre-mature infant. There was also a study that a mother's voice is recognizable by an infant because the baby prefers the mother's voice than any other voice.

As a mother, I always try to talk and interact with Kiara. There was even a time when I suspected that she had autism when she was still a baby because of her lack of interaction. But it was just another anxiety attack on my part.
Now is she laughing and smiling and making everyone around her happy. She is my little sunshine.

I just can't imagine someone or some parents hurting their children.
All children are dependent on the adult to provide for all the needs and it's not all money. What is even more important is the love and care that you can give to your child.