lullabies for little criminals
aby: A Product of Her Environment
Child development is the genetic and internal changes that occur in children during early years. There are many internal and external factors that affect a child 's growth and development. The connection between a child’s environment and a child’s development are explored in Heather O 'Neill 's lullabies for little criminals where a child named Baby becomes a product of her environment. This is explored through the early death of Baby’s mother, her being raised by a young father and her father 's drug addiction. Baby’s bad decisions and choices come from a lack of guidance necessary for a child’s social growth and development. The absence of a mother in Baby’s life is without a doubt one of the most significant factor in how her life turns out. Not having a mother to guide her, encourage and mold her to become a healthy young adult is evident throughout the book as the important life lessons from a mother was never instilled. Although Baby is grateful for her father, Jules’s attempts at parenting her, she recognizes that he is unable to take care of himself, therefore unable to give Baby the nurturing environment necessary for a child to flourish. This is evident when she laments “Jules tried to be a mother, but he’d always kind of fallen short on the mark” (O’Neill, 186). Furthermore, Baby does not understand the feeling of unconditional love that mothers often have towards their children which causes her to look for love in all the wrong places. Without a mother in her life, Baby does not have someone she can lean on for some of the most basic roles of a parental figure, and she grows up feeling ashamed of what she has becomes. Hence, Baby reflects on her outcome when she states “I thought that if my mother met me now, all grown up, she would be disappointed” (O’Neill, 97). Without guidance Baby succumbs to the life of drugs, alcohol and prostitution, a fate she feels was inevitable given the lack of maternal love.
Child development is the genetic and internal changes that occur in children during early years. There are many internal and external factors that affect a child 's growth and development. The connection between a child’s environment and a child’s development are explored in Heather O 'Neill 's lullabies for little criminals where a child named Baby becomes a product of her environment. This is explored through the early death of Baby’s mother, her being raised by a young father and her father 's drug addiction. Baby’s bad decisions and choices come from a lack of guidance necessary for a child’s social growth and development. The absence of a mother in Baby’s life is without a doubt one of the most significant factor in how her life turns out. Not having a mother to guide her, encourage and mold her to become a healthy young adult is evident throughout the book as the important life lessons from a mother was never instilled. Although Baby is grateful for her father, Jules’s attempts at parenting her, she recognizes that he is unable to take care of himself, therefore unable to give Baby the nurturing environment necessary for a child to flourish. This is evident when she laments “Jules tried to be a mother, but he’d always kind of fallen short on the mark” (O’Neill, 186). Furthermore, Baby does not understand the feeling of unconditional love that mothers often have towards their children which causes her to look for love in all the wrong places. Without a mother in her life, Baby does not have someone she can lean on for some of the most basic roles of a parental figure, and she grows up feeling ashamed of what she has becomes. Hence, Baby reflects on her outcome when she states “I thought that if my mother met me now, all grown up, she would be disappointed” (O’Neill, 97). Without guidance Baby succumbs to the life of drugs, alcohol and prostitution, a fate she feels was inevitable given the lack of maternal love.