Building blocks to the future Childhood impressionability causes interests to impact them Malak Samara
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samarmal000@hsestudents.org
hildren find happiness in their favorite shows, toys and activities and because of their susceptibility, their personality starts to form around those interests. This eventually leads to their dreams and future being influenced by the environment they built for themselves. “I think [interests] are essential to form an identity to experience the world,” psychology teacher Kristin Marr said. Finding and exploring interests as a child can affect people as they continue to grow. Sometimes, the hobbies a person has from childhood can stick with them for the rest of their life. “I like reading; I definitely think if I didn’t do as much of it as I did when I was younger, then I wouldn’t like [reading] as much as I do now,” junior Kayla King said. A person’s childhood and environment is important to their future because it introduces the development of their habits and mindset, according to Marr. “It is so essential that kids have the opportunity to have down, unstructured play time,” Marr said. “They’re learning interaction, they’re learning rules, they’re learning conflict management. So many things play as essential to kids.” Furthermore, interests as a child can help a person’s social skills. Finding a common interest among peers allows for the formation of friendships and comfortability around others. “Interests help you down the line in life and find friends to be
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there with you,” freshman Isaac Arango said. “I would say that interests have really helped me find friends that I cherish, as well as my life plans, which helped me find a lot more joy in the world.” According to Psychology Today, a person’s interests as a child can affect their career choices. What people found interesting growing up may influence them to go into a future that includes the same skills or attributes. “There are so many students who planned careers around their obsessions,” Marr said. “I have students who have been interested in something like SimCity and have become urban planners in the future. I think [interests] absolutely influenced our careers, our paths, where we spend our time; all of those things are affected.” Not only do interests and hobbies as a child help develop important skills, but so do the people they look up to. This can include television stars, book characters or even professional athletes. “Exploring roles from a book or mimicking other people is a huge part of forming their identity,” Marr said. “Maybe if that imaginary character gets a second chance, they’ll believe in second chances for themselves.” Due to how easily children are influenced, there are problems that arise regarding censorship. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the interests children take in and the
people they look up to should be closely monitored. This is to prevent bad habits from being developed at a young age. “I know ‘Jessie,’ the Disney show, was getting a lot of hate because all the children on the show were kind of bratty,” King said. “I was even told as a kid that I couldn’t watch [Jessie] and I couldn’t watch SpongeBob because it was really annoying because I think whenever you’re a kid you’re very impressionable.” While looking up to certain people or interests can be dangerous for a child’s development, Marr says this can be used as an opportunity to teach kids at a young age that people have flaws. This leads to the acceptance of imperfection. “I think that [children] need to be ready to find fault,” Marr said. “I think that the hardest part about childhood is realizing that people are imperfect. I think we have to remember everybody’s human. Everybody makes mistakes.” Head to Health, a digital mental health resource, says that childhood interests can lead to strong mental health and wellbeing. Since children’s’ interests are a creative outlet for their emotions, it develops stress management skills. “I feel like interests really help you figure out ways to cope with anything going on in your life,” King said. “I think interests are really good for people to have because they can be an escape and like something people really enjoy to go and do.”
February 2022
