Topic: Childhood Memory
1. Is it important to have pleasant childhood memories? Why?
Answer: It is absolutely important to have pleasant childhood memories because, without them, negativity will creep up into our lives when we grow up to become adults. In fact, without pleasant childhood memories, we would develop mistrust, sense of unnecessary shame, doubt and guilt, sense of inferiority, confusion with playing a proper social role in the community in our lives while most likely remaining isolated also from the fun and productive activities. Childhood memories often make or break our future life and that is why it is imperative to have a pleasant childhood and positive memories associated with it.
2. Do you think that people are permanently affected by negative childhood memories? Why do you think so?
Answer: Negative childhood memories have some impacts on our future like but I don’t think that people are permanently affected by negative childhood memories just as they aren’t by the positive memories because if they did affect, it would be very difficult for us to make decisions quickly, and we would always carry a huge load of the complex emotional bag on our back to be “functional”. Besides, the fact, that we are able to treat some of our mental illnesses (which are essentially nothing but a collection of negative memories from our past childhood sometimes) with “psychiatric” treatments, proves to us that people aren’t affected by childhood memories permanently. If we were enduringly affected by our negative experiences in childhood, it would have been quite impossible for us to carry on as adults.
3. What do you think it means to ‘live in the past’?
Answer: “Memories” are lifetime things that remain with us for the rest of our lives, and when we think and talk about these memories by forgetting about the normal activities of our lives, we call it “living in the past”. Of course, “living in the past” is not that bad when cling on to the “pleasant” memories because they sometimes motivate us to have positive views about life, but if we cling on to the “unpleasant or negative” memories most of the time, we become depressed and find it really hard to enjoy the “normal” things in our lives.
4. Nowadays many parents try to make their children happy by buying them many toys. How do you feel about this?
Answer: Generally speaking, it makes me feel good when I see that parents are buying their children many toys in order to make them happy because it helps create “good memories” in the minds of the children. Besides, the practice also helps create a stronger bond between the parents and their children. However, while the practice of buying many toys may seem to be an “innocent” act in isolation, parents would do good on their parts if they also care to teach their children sometimes not to get “mad or unhappy”, when they (the children) don’t receive something they really like, in order to help children understand the “realities” of life.
5. Is it important for a child to have a lot of toys in order to be happy?
Answer: No, it is not important for a child to have a “lot” (because this is the “keyword” here) of toys in order to become happy as long as they are taught what it really means to be “happy”. If the children are taught that the “real happiness” lies in celebrating life and many of its occasions without receiving any “material” things in return, then the chances are that they wouldn’t exactly dig too much into the idea of receiving a “lot” of gifts to become happy. Besides, children are “innocent” minded, so if they are treated with genuine love and care, they wouldn’t really mind too much about the “number” of toys they are getting.
6. What is more important for a child’s happiness, many toys or many friends?
Answer: A child needs both the toys and friends to become happy in his or her life, but they certainly don’t need “many” of either of them. Contrary to popular belief, I really like to think that children are “rational”, and they don’t exactly care to understand the complicated issue of “being happy”. Rather, all the children care is to “enjoy and have fun” in their lives whether they get them from playing with their friends or by playing with their toys.
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