Let it be. Or let`s adapt inunion. Or let`s create more

——Book Review of The Disappearance of Childhood

By Shirley Z

The aboved novel is written by Neil Postmanwho is a famous senior researcher and critic of media culture in the world.Usually, people speak highly of his works, like Amusing ourselves to death,Technology, and what I have recently finished reading : The Disappearance ofChildhood.

It consists of two parts, the former illuminatingthe invention of the concept of "childhood" as well as the latteraccounting for its disappearance. For the very beginning , there`s nothingclearly referring to "childhood". It is just because of the inventionof printing that leads to its birth, causing a series of changes in Europe, ofwhich the great honor was conferred to Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zumGutenberg in Germany.Childhood, like an infant, experienced its birth , relatively slower growth inMiddle Ages and finally reached its highlight in life. However, at the sametime, its seed of disappearance was also buried. Why? Readers cannot helpputting forward such a question. Well let`s turn to the last part of the book. "Telegraph".Since it has transformed the spreading form of messages, it makes socialinformation or secrets easier to know by children. As we all know that in theprevious stage, children are distinguished from the New Adult by means ofreading ability. But now, they can obtain information illiterate. What`s evenworse, television came out as another critical strike to "the childhood".

Nowadays, we can discover children becomemore mature earlier and easier. They are available to touch the secrets in thetrue version of adults, like sex ,violence, diseases and so on. Strange to saythat we adults, on the contrary have changed into childlike ones in a certaindegree. How miserable! Though the concept itself now has not faded awaythroughly, almost each couple of parents are able to observe or sense itssubtle changes of their kids, compared with themselves. Because theyacknowledge that TV can show almost everything no matter it`s good or bad tohuaman being`s kids through pictures and voices. Furthermore, the livingenvironment for our descendants has changed already .They are existing in adigital era. Parents who possess different nationalities cannot stop the trend.They are only ordinary people while technology can emerge, develop and in theend be all-pervasive in adults and children`s daily life. At last, only schoolsalong with their parents persist in defending the rights of kids, keeping them away from being assimilated abnormally. This kind of  Adult-Children growth has betrayed healthy psychologicalas well as physical growth of the children.

Through the novel ,we know the author issomewhat powerless facing the negative phenomenon. But for me, I have my pointsof view. If we cannot deal with it, in spite of greatest efforts, we justrelease ourselves. Let it be. Or we unite together to adapt. On one hand, all aspectsof societies organize and join in a specialized alliance, sparing no efforts tocontrol the speed of Adult-Children progress. On the other hand, we attempt tolive with it, just as Herbert Spencer said "the survival of the fittest”. Usually, anything all has both sides. And who can definitely announce that the early socialization doesn`t mean itself. Solet`s adapt in union. What`s more, one kind of technology could create theconcept of childhood. And another is ready to destroy it .Then why not createmore species of technology? Let`s wait and see what will happen.