that’s wonderful… could you help me with the instruction part? that’s why i posted it here… because i do want to publish it.
Journalism / The Truth About Teddy Bears
The Truth About Teddy Bears
Thanks goes to Nathaniel… my own teddy bear
What is a teddy bear? It’s a simple question with a not so simple answer. Sure, you could say a teddy bear is a toy in the shape of a bear with stuffing inside. You could say that some people like to dress them, play with them, and sleep with them and that they are comfort objects. But that’s where most people stop.
A teddy bear, yes, is a comfort object. But it is much more than that as well. A teddy bear is a tool, an instrument. It is a mirror for the deepest wants and desires of the owner. For example, a child, when upset will go to that teddy bear and what is the first thing he does with it? He hugs this bear. He hugs it and rocks it back and forth and cries into it.
We have all seen it happen before, and even though some of us are too proud to admit it, we have all done it ourselves. So the big question is; why do they do that? Why do these kids act in this manner with their teddy bears?
As I said, a teddy bear is a mirror of their hearts deepest desires. The distressed child holds the teddy bear and rocks it back and forth and pets its furry head because that is what the child himself wants. It feels good to the child to perform this action because he himself wishes it performed on him.
Why do little girls dress up their teddy bears and take them to “tea parties” and to little imaginary picnics by the “seashore” that is their bathtub? Because they wish their own parents would do the same for them.
The general public has wondered for the longest time how to get into the minds of their children, of the ones who could not speak, or the ones who were cut off from society; but the answer lies in front of us. The answer lies in the most mundane of all things- the common teddy bear.
It is to this teddy bear that children whisper their secrets in the dead of night. They whisper their wishes, their wants, their desires, their needs. They cry to these teddy bears when they are hurting. They hug these teddy bears and crush the stuffing out of them. They sleep with these semi-lopsided teddy bears because of one simple thing.
So what is that one thing? What is that one reason that draws all of us (but younger children the most) to teddy bears? Why is it, that in our darkest hours, we long for our teddy bears?
The answer is simple. A teddy bear symbolizes life-long companionship. A teddy bear is a companion who will never go away, never betray you, never change, never tell your secrets to anyone else, never interrupt you on a rampage and tell you you are wrong. This teddy bear will never yell at you or hurt you or make you feel bad. The teddy bear is a symbol of unconditional love.
So why a teddy bear? Perhaps the attraction to teddy bears came with the disintegration of the core family. Perhaps it was just because it was another cool toy out there in the market. Perhaps it was because it is a soft, fuzzy toy that has been around for generations.
Sorry Roosevelt; the teddy bear was not your invention. The teddy bear has been around for much longer than Theodore Roosevelt’s campaign to end wildfires. We can give him credit for the fame of the teddy bear, but not for the idea of it. The bear shape is just that, a shape. The comfort object, perhaps in the form of a doll, or a rabbit, or some other structure has been around for longer than we have been recording history.
So how did it happen? The teddy bear (or any comfort object for that matter) came about because somebody- I will not say a child because it may very well have been an adult- needed comfort. My speculation is that it came about with the disintegration of the core family. Why the core family? Because it is the family that should comfort us. Human beings should find comfort in each other: in mothers and fathers, in brothers and sisters. The fact that humans had to go to some inanimate object for comfort means that this relationship fell apart. Possibly, it was a lack of trust in another individual that prompted the creator of the comfort object to speak to something other than his relatives. Or perchance it was that the relatives were unavailable.
It is evident in modern day society that the situation has not improved much. Fathers are most commonly known as the breadwinners in the family. They go out, work all day, sometimes all night, many times away from home, and they see little or no of the family. The wife may understand his reasoning and go on with her life. The children, however, cannot be expected to understand this abandonment. On the other hand, we cannot lay all the blame on the men, for women too have entered this style of leaving the children. Many children grow up seeing little or nothing of their mom. It may be that the mother is the breadwinner, or it may be that both parents must work to support the children or it may be that the mother just up and left. Fathers are guilty of this as well.
These children cannot turn to their parents because of their absences, so they turn to the teddy bears. The one thing that does not attempt to show his love for the child by the size of the paycheck, or by the amount of toys it can bring to the child. The teddy bear speaks to children the best because it speaks the language of children. It provides the one thing they want, and perhaps need, most; it provides constant, unwavering support. Not monetary support, but being there, sitting at your side, vent on me kind of support.
And sadly, adult these days cannot give this type of support. Adults are too busy with their jobs, the bills, the house and sports, or friends, or parties. Whatever the reason, adults have lost the ability to communicate with their children. Adults these days are always short of time and of temper. When a child goes to them for help, the adults tend to shut them up, or tell them that they are wrong, or laugh at their problems. What a child really wants, what a child needs, is somebody to just be there for them. To just listen to what they have to say and not complain. To sit by their side and make them feel welcome.
And an occasional hug or cuddle is not unwelcome either.
It is those qualities that make the teddy bears the comfort object. It is that, which makes teddy bears the thing children run to in times of need and in sorrow.
It is the teddy bear’s companionship.
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free2rhyme2107 reviewed Version 1 -
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i liked it. something i can defintily recommend to a friend to read when in the mood for something light but thought provoking. the title draws you in automatically and the NOTES FOR REVIEWERS ties everythign in. little parts make more sense knowin what you were feeling at the moment. considering your age, i didnt expect it to be so good, most young teenagers have so many rough spots that i didnt see in yours. i liked it though —let me know if you make any changes
jm
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Kimberly reviewed Version 1 -
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I love this peice! For a girl of 15years old you are very insightfull. As a mother I never considered any of this but I think you are right. As for your writing, I think you show talent. I think with a little instruction you could clean this up and have a pulishable peice. Keep writing and letting your talent mature with you. Good luck to you and don’t give that teddy bear up!
Corruptedstatic reviewed Version 1 -
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I’m not much for correcting grammer, I handle more of the spiritual/emotional side of writing. I must say..I’m very impressed and intriged that a 15 year old as yourself became so insightful within minutes. I find that beautiful. What you experienced I would call a epiphany. A sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience. It’s as if you awoke from a painful slumber and were hit with a dose of truth. I can relate to this experience and I’m very exited for you. Suffering has it’s rewards. Only 15 and many many years to live. You definetly have a good head on your shoulders. A foward thinker. Now to the teddy bear. :) I can’t argue your realization because I agree with it. It saddens me to think that families have lost the core relationship with each other and now we turn to inanimate objects for comfort. I enjoyed how you first explained what the teddy bear is and then went into detail as to teach the reader some history of the teddy bear. Remarkable. Thank you very much for the read. I enjoyed this piece very much so. Good luck to you. With respect. -Corruptedstatic.
Blitzwing reviewed Version 1 -
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If I hadn’t read the “notes for reviewers” at the beginning of this text I would have the impression that this was written by a practicing psychologist. Most of the things you mentioned were very insightful. Not only were you able to provide a psychological account why youngsters cherish their teddy bears (see paragraph 4) but its social effects as well (see paragraphs 13-15).
The overall structure of this piece is highly systematic. You began this piece by defining what a teddy bear is, what goes on people’s minds when they play with teddy bears and the social causes and effects of such behavior. It has a scholarly ring to it.
I particularly admire your analysis concerning the effects of parents’ busy schedules on children’s emotional needs (see paragraph 15). Most parents want the best for their children so they went to great lengths to provide for their needs. They work themselves to exhaustion and come home tired having little time for their children. The sad thing about this is that children fail to understand why their parents usually burn themselves out. As a result they retreat to the comfort of their teddy bears.
Your piece is fascinating, however, there are a couple of things which i suggest which you can do to increase its impact. For starters, you can try finding a more suitable word for “unconditional love” (see paragraph 9, sentence 3). I believe such a term is inappropriate for a teddy bear because “love” is a proactive term. Proactive terms refer to a person or thing’s ability to do something such as “betraying,” “yelling” or “comforting.” Teddy bears are not capable of doing anything at all since it is an inanimate object.
What I suggest is to replace it with a more neutral term such as loyalty. When you refer to a teddy bear as a “symbol of loyalty” it doesn’t actually have to do anything to be loyal. All it has to do is stay by its owner’s side and that’s it. It gives your piece a more realistic feel to it.
Your inclusion of the concept of “lack of trust” in paragraph 12, sentence 8 seems quite misplaced. You said that the reason why children tend to find comfort in teddy bears was because of the “disintegration on the core family” (sentence 3) because families were supposed to provide comfort to all of its members. You should have built on this idea more rather than inserting the idea of “lack of trust” in that paragraph.
“Lack of trust” is a negative term which connotes suspicion of the intentions of another person. As far as your piece is concerned it does not imply anything of the sort with regards to your portrayal of the family. It’s best that you either remove it or devote another paragraph to explain your point further.
Lastly, please be mindful of the way you use punctuation marks. See for example:
(1) “So the big question is; why do they do that?” (paragraph 3 sentence 2)
- replace the semi-colon (;) with a colon (:).
(2) “Sorry Roosevelt; the teddy bear was not your invention” (paragraph 11, sentence 1)
- replace the semi-colon (;) with a comma(,).
(3) “The teddy bear (or any comfort object for that matter) came about because somebody- I will not say a child because it may very well have been an adult- needed comfort.” (paragraph 12, sentence 2)
- replace your parentheses () with a comma (,) and your hyphens with parentheses ().
(4) Consider changing the punctuation of paragraph 14, sentence 4 into:
“It provides the one thing they want and perhaps need the most: the need for constant, unwavering support.”
All in all I think this is a great piece of work. It is insightful and highly thought provoking. I do wish to see it in print someday. Keep up the good work! =)
trav8434 reviewed Version 1 -
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“The comfort object, perhaps in the form of a doll, or a rabbit, or some other structure has been around for longer than we have been recording history.” This is a bit of an overstatement.
“It provides the one thing they want, and perhaps need, most; it provides constant, unwavering support.” After the semi-colon i’d recommend putting “moreover” or “indeed” or something like that.
“And sadly, adult these days cannot give this type of support.” “adult”(s).
“Adults these days are always short of time and of temper.” You can probaly cut out the second “of”.
“It is that, which makes teddy bears the thing children run to in times of need and in sorrow.” That comma is unnecessary.
And you can probably do away with most of the ranking criteria.
I liked this piece very much. The mistakes do not take away from the general point, which is useful and endearing. I myself had a life-long companion and i acted in a similar fashion with my bear, though i was by no means the victim of any degree of abandonment. I think this idea works and, morever, i think you are an excellent writer.
Travis
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