Trigger warning: The article contains descriptions of incidents that may be triggering for some individuals.
We look at the antics of little children and smile to say they’re so innocent. But my question is: what is innocence, and when exactly does one lose it? Is there one particular event of life that destroys childlike innocence? Or is it the moment a child becomes conscious of the ways of the world?
Perhaps, it is just a culmination point when an individual loses all sorts of hesitation and embraces their unabashed self.
Or perhaps, it’s a grave moment of tragedy when a person gets acquainted with life’s suffering.
People on Reddit are describing the moment when they lost their innocence & it might give you chills.
1. “When I got divorced, was a single dad paying alimony and child support while having my baby son with me 6 nights per week – I was 25.”
2. “When I realised people will usually take their best interests before yours when it comes down to very serious situations. Trust your friends, rely on yourself.”
3. “…Dec 01, 1991, my sister who was a year older than me died in a car accident, I was 14.”
TreeBearOne
4. “When I had to be the adult at a very young age to maintain my house peace.”
5. “When my dad died, me and my brother watched him get carried out of the house on a stretcher. We prayed for him to be okay, but it was cancer and he had been deteriorating for a while. Never even got to say goodbye.”
6. “When I was 12. My best friend at the time sexually assaulted me during lunch at school. When I told our teacher he made me apologise because I was apparently trying to ruin his future.”
7. “TW. When I was 15 and was sexually assulted by a 40 year old man.”
8 “Getting the shit kicked out of me just about everyday by a bully at the bus stop during first grade.”
9. “My brother, 2 years younger, would often get beat up by an older kid while walking home from school. One day I came home to see my brother crying hard and he showed me the bruises and the cut lip that the usual bully had given him. The next day I got out of school early and waited by a wall near this guy’s house. I grabbed him as hard as I could and slammed him into the wall. I told him through clenched teeth to never touch my brother again and that he was to make sure nobody else touched him otherwise I’d be back. He never touched my brother again. I learned that day to stick up for myself.”
10. “Was horribly bullied in 6th grade. Classmates would constantly make negative comments about my appearance, which I could do little to change. Ever since then I’ve struggled with social anxiety, low self esteem, and I still obsess over every little aspect of my appearance daily. Kids can be pretty cruel.”
11. “When I was 16 and the girl I was dating told me she was falling in love with me. It was surreal. I’d never been in love but I was damn sure that I was falling in love with her too. Perfect! Anyways a week later she cheated on me. Twice? How is that fair? I started seeing EVERYTHING different after that. I realized the world fucking sucks, people are fucking assholes, and that all these dreams and ideals I had meant absolutely fucking NOTHING in the face of the cruelty of the world.”
12. “After my last relationship which was beyond toxic and abusive. I had no idea people could be so God awful to me.”
13. “I was about 13 years old and I saw a video of terrorists beheading an American journalist, I couldn’t believe what I saw. I was shocked for several months. I never saw life the same way.”
14. “When I was six and loyalist paramilitaries bombed our house. I realised there were bad people in this world.”
15. “When my mom cried because we were low on money. And I knew what money meant. It’s how you live.”
16. “I saw my dad drown when I was 11. The kid who I used to be pretty much died on that beach. I don’t know who I would have become had that not happened. But on that day I learned nothing is safe.”
17. “When you realise that your parents aren’t super humans and they’re only human and have their own desires and needs… “
Writing this piece made me realise that we’re all so much stronger than how we perceive ourselves.