More often than not, we look back at the religious practices of old and even the ones still carried out today with anything from a raised eyebrow to a nauseating sense of moral disgust. It’s been fairly well-documented in scientific literature that humans act out in violence as a last resort, trying to stake their claims to social status or simply trying to survive.

Religion usurps this aspect of human existence, blending status and survival and giving it away to proposed supernatural forces which people have sought to please to receive blessings and good fortune since time immemorial. Here are 10 civilizations which engaged in one of the weirdest religious practices of all, the sacrifice of children.

10 Babylon

Finding itself dead center in the birthplace of civilization, Babylon was a megalithic settlement and one of the most powerful forces of the ancient world. They sacrificed human beings to their chief deity, Marduk, as well as others like Anu, a deity of the city Uruk, during the later years of the Babylonian Empire. Annual fire festivals were held where they would sacrifice children to Anu.

It’s safe to say that human sacrifice was a staple during the entire existence of Babylon, with the first mention of the city’s existence in the 23rd century BC. It remained a powerful city and empire at times until it was taken by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. After that, it could never quite recover its former glory.^[1]

9 Aztec

The Aztecs are probably the society best known for engaging in human sacrifice for religious reasons. In October 2017, archaeologists unearthed a rare find, a cylindrical pit specifically dug and lined with volcanic rocks centuries ago for a sacrifice to the gods of the Aztecs.

Tenochtitlan was an ancient Aztec city which now lies in the heart of Mexico City. The find came at the foot of Templo Mayor, an Aztec temple in Tenochtitlan. It is believed that this child, known as Offering 176, was sacrificed sometime in the 1400s.

This was a time of Aztec expansion when many children were sacrificed to their gods. Most likely, Offering 176 was killed to appease Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec war god, and bring favor to those living in the city.^[2]

8 Canaan

Canaan is the all-encompassing term for the land which was in modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. The Holy Bible is replete with references to an ancient Canaanite god named Molech (aka Moloch) to whom human sacrifices were both the norm and seemingly plentiful.

Molech was even referred to as the “god of child sacrifice” by some. This deity was thought to be very well pleased with offerings that burned living people, notably children, in a fire.

In The Holy Bible, the Book of Leviticus even forbids this practice. Leviticus 18:21 says, “Neither shall you give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.”^[3]

7 Israelites

Before the decree in Leviticus, the Israelites often practiced human sacrifice, which included children, sometimes even to the foreign god Baal. We find further scriptures, such as those in Kings, which claim that the Israelites worshiped false gods and engaged in the ritual killing of human children.^[4]

The Bible describes the children of ancient Israel as being used much like animals for burned offerings, sometimes to even appease the Judeo-Christian god Jehovah. Some scholars have vehemently denied these allegations, though the descriptions are right there in the works surviving from ancient times.

However, it should be noted that human sacrifices were largely taboo and violated religious law in the majority of the Judeo-Christian religions.

6 Olmec

The Olmec civilization was one of the oldest large settlements in prehistoric Mesoamerica. Their culture and sphere of influence spanned much of southern North America, including the area which encompasses the modern-day countries of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.

The evidence is fairly damning for the Olmec people. They are believed to be the first known Mesoamerican culture to practice human sacrifice. They’re significantly older than other cultures from the early Americas.^[5]

Around 300 BC, the Olmec people mysteriously vanished. The humid rain forest ate away the bones of the people who’d previously lived there. All we have left are the relics of their former culture.

Yet we do have evidence of child sacrifice in ancient Mesoamerica. Thousands upon thousands of bones have been recovered from various sites, including Midnight Terror Cave in Belize and the sacred shrine of El Manati. This culture sacrificed thousands of children to their gods. The bones of these children—along with those of many women—have been left behind for us to find.

5 Maya

The Mayan civilization came about some 1,500 years after the Olmec and carried on the practices of human sacrifice to their gods as well. Archaeologists digging in the Guatemalan city of Ceibal, which reaches way back to the times of the Mayan culture, have discovered something truly bizarre—obsidian stones buried at the places of their child sacrifices to their gods.

Obsidian is a type of dark natural glass, usually jet-black in color, which is formed when lava cools rapidly. The Maya believed that obsidian was a divine stone.

The Maya would sacrifice small children to the gods, whom they believed were empowered by the blood of children. Then the Maya buried these youngsters face-to-face in a grave, often with obsidian.^[6]

4 Toltec

What other cultures did on a small scale, the Toltec civilization did on a massive scale. Many civilizations inhabited the southern part of North America over time, and the Toltec came right before the reign of the Aztecs in modern-day Mexico. They dominated the area from the 10th–12th centuries AD, and the sacrifice of live children was apparently a staple of their culture like the others before them.

Near Tula, Mexico, a mass grave was uncovered during construction which contained the remains of at least 24 children. All the evidence was there of a mass killing and child sacrifice to the gods.

The bodies are believed to have been killed and buried sometime between AD 950 and AD 1150.^[7] Compared to our significantly less violent world of today, this was definitely an unusual culture and perhaps gives us a glimpse into the world of the past and the human race’s savage tendencies.

3 Inca

The Incas stand apart from most of the rest of the Mesoamerican cultures in the world of human sacrifice in that they seemingly only sacrificed children and never adults. This practice was still going on by the time that European settlers arrived.

The strongest, healthiest children were chosen intentionally as they were thought to better please the gods. It was an honor in Incan civilization to be chosen as a sacrifice or to be a member of that person’s family.

Although their population was smaller than other Mesoamerican cultures, the Inca Empire was widespread, spanning at least 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mi) at its largest. Child sacrifice quite obviously permeated the Mesoamerican world of prehistory. For better or worse, the European colonists tried very hard to stop these practices upon their arrival, though such rituals often continued in secret.^[8]

2 Teotihuacan

Many Mesoamerican cultures built megalithic structures on which they would perform their macabre human sacrifices. The Pyramid of the Moon was one such structure in Teotihuacan, Mexico, where the Mesoamerican civilizations who lived there long ago would tear the hearts out of children and sacrifice them to the gods.

The pyramid structure is approximately 2,000 years old, and the site contains the remains of many children who’d been sacrificed by this ancient culture. Strangely, the people who lived in Teotihuacan left zero clues as to what their culture might be about—no hieroglyphs or writing.

As was common with early Mesoamerican cultures, the Teotihuacanos just seemingly disappeared and we can’t quite figure out why. Centuries later, the Aztecs referred to Teotihuacan as “the City of the Gods.” The Teotihuacanos had left their structures completely intact for others to find later.^[9]

1 Celts

When the Roman Empire expanded, it stopped human sacrifice, a practice largely taboo in Greco-Roman culture with few exceptions. Most Roman writings show that they felt morally superior by not engaging in human sacrifice. One group that the Romans called the Gauls, otherwise known to us as the Celts, ritually killed children in much of ancient Europe.

The Celts were a brutal but loose-knit band of tribes who would occasionally join forces to fight off the invading Romans. In warfare, the Celts would behead their enemies and embalm the severed heads as trophies to take with them. Of course, this also scared off would-be enemies as an act of psychological warfare.

So it should come as no surprise that such a hard-core ethnic group would occasionally practice child sacrifice to appease their gods. Roman authors galore, including Julius Caesar, document the practice and their abhorrence of it at great length.

Recent excavations of Celtic sites have turned up mummies of sacrificed children as well as structures for human-made “fountains of blood” where the drinking of blood and cannibalism would take place.^[10] The Celts were a terrifyingly violent culture, and these practices show just how brutal humankind can be if left to their own devices and cultures.

One of the most precious things that exists in this world is childhood innocence. Unfortunately, the film industry has a disturbing history of having children perform sexually explicit actions on film, largely for the entertainment of adults. While attracting rightful condemnation from many, there is not enough being done to protect children working in the entertainment industry from being exposed to and participating in things that children should not be a part of.

This is a particularly timely list as the mainstream media has recently begun drawing attention to QAnon when a reporter recently asked the president what he thought about “his” suggestion that Mr Trump is working to end a deeply entrenched child sex trafficking cabal in the deep state with Hollywood complicity. Additionally, Netflix recently released a show Cuties which has horrified many with its extreme pro child sexuality content.

These are 10 films featuring children performing explicit actions on screen . . . disturbingly this is just the tip of the iceberg.

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10 Good Boys 2019

Seth Rogan’s 2019 comedy film Good Boys pushed all the remaining boundaries of late night comedies. The film features 3 13 year old boys, played by real 13 year old actors, who are preparing for their first Kissing Party and have several misadventures along the way. The boys activities in the film included them cursing, peeping on their neighbors and underage drinking. In addition there were several scenes featuring the underaged actors using sex toys, both properly and improperly. One scene featured 13 year old Jacob Trembly kissing a sex doll which was implied as being used by one of his friends parents. Another featured all 3 of the boys viewing a pornographic video. In spite of all of this, there was little mainstream controversy surrounding the film and it was released to the public without incident, grossing 110.6 million at the box office.^[1]

9 Blank Check 1994

Disney movies are meant to be child friendly and family friendly films. Given that they are mostly watched by children, Disney movies are often held to a higher standard in terms of what is on screen. That is not always the case however and several Disney films have been at the center of controversy, one such is the movie Blank Check. In 1994’s Blank Check, the 11 year old Preston was seen to be in a one sided relationship with a 32 year old actress featuring dates, romantic gifts, and culminating in a kiss on the lips at the end of the movie. It created controversy at the time but was quickly forgotten and Disney was forgiven. This scene came back to haunt Disney in 2019 when the film was rereleased on Disney’s new streaming service Disney Plus. Many people were shocked and appalled that Disney chose to keep the scene in the movie, however the protests fell on deaf ears and the scene remains on Disney Plus.^[2]

8 Interview with a Vampire 1994

Much like Blank Check, Interview with a Vampire features a kiss between an underage actor and an adult actor. The main difference is between the genders of the actors, with the female Kristin Dunst kissing the male Brad Pitt. There was a 19 year age difference between Pitt and Durst at the time. Since the film’s release, both Pitt and Durnst have spoken about the scene saying how they both felt disgusted by what they had to do and regret their roles. Although Durnst feels uncomfortable with the kiss she shared with Pitt, she still speaks highly of Brad Pitt and his behavior on set, saying that he was like an older brother to her.^[3]

7 The Godfather 1972

Francais Ford Coppola’s 1972 film The Godfather is considered by many to be one of the greatest films of all time. The film tells the story of World War Two veteran Micheal Corleone, the son of feared Mafia Don Vito Corleone, reluctantly taking over his father’s criminal empire during a time of conflict within New York’s organised crime families. In addition to controversy from Italian Civil Rights groups and real organized crime organizations in regards to the depictions of Italian Americans, one particular scene crossed the line. In the film, when Micheal is forced to flee to Italy after killing a rival monster as well as a New York City police captain, he meets a young Italian woman named Apollina, who he soon marries. In the scene where Micheal and Apollonia consummate their marriage, the then 16 year old Simonetta Stefanelli removed her top showing her bare chest and began a sexually suggestive scene with the then 30 year old Al Pacino. Despite this, The Godfather’s legacy as a cinematic masterpiece remains.^[4]

6 Pretty Baby 1978

A movie telling the story of an underage prostitute featuring an underage actress will always create controversy, with outrage likely following quickly. As a result such movies are rarely made, especially ones featuring real underage actresses. But in 1978 a movie like that was released, starring 12 year old Brooke Shields. There were countless controversial scenes in the film, such as 12 year old Shields completely naked, Shields virginity being auctioned off and Shields being drugged and sexually abused. These scenes led to the film being banned in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Saskatchawan, in a ban that lasted until 1995. Now, the film is considered a classic by some, but a sick use of cinema by others. Shields, who was the focal point of this controversy says that she regrets nothing and is proud of the film.^[5]

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5 Taxi Driver 1976

Jodie Foster’s role in Taxi Driver has always been marked with criticism. Given her young age at the time, coupled with the fact she had to flirt with 33 year old Robert DeNiro and witness the film’s violent climax when 3 men are gunned down in a bloody gun battle. These scenes were so gruesome that Foster had to undergo several psychological evaluations in order to perform in these scenes, further stoking controversy. Finally, 4 years after the release of the film a man named John Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan in order to get Foster’s attention. Today, Taxi Driver is known for being the film that put director Martin Scorsese on the map, as well as being one of Robert DeNiro’s most memorable roles.^[6]

4 Lolita 1997

Based on the controversial 1955 book, Lolita is a movie detailing the illicit relationship between a 12 year old girl and her middle aged stepfather. Unlike the original 1962 movie which had a more lighthearted and comedic tone to it, the 1997 remake of the film did not shy away from the more controversial themes of the original novel. In the film, Lolita was played by 17 year old Dominique Swain while Humbert Humbert was played by 49 year old Jeremy Irons, who later stoked controversy for saying that parental affection had a sexual aspect. In the film, Irons and Swain engaged in all of the hallmarks of a traditional relationship such as hugging, kissing, as well as illusions of sexual contact between the pair.^[7]

3 Cuties 2020

The description of this movie says it all. “Amy, 11 years old, tries to escape family dysfunction by joining a free-spirited dance clique named Cuties, as they become aware of their own femininity through dance.” This, combined with images of scantily clad young girls sparked a fierce social media backlash with many demanding Netflix remove the film with some even going so far as to cancel their Netflix accounts altogether. Netflix further stoked controversy when their executives refused to condemn pedophelia and insisted that the controversy surrounding the film was wrong. Nonetheless, Netflix eventually bowed to public pressure and removed the posters featuring scantily clad young girls and changed the film’s description. That however does not change the fact that the film contains scenes of scantily clad 11 year old girls performing sexually provocative dances and is set to release to the public very soon.^[8]

2 Manhattan 1979

Noted Hollywood figure Woody Allen’s personal life has been the source of controversy over the course of many years. The source of this controversy stems from his relationship with his step-daughter Soon Yi, whom he had raised since she was 11 years old. It has been alleged that the relationship started before Soon Yi was 18, but that has never been proven. Given this controversy, his 1979 film Manhattan has been analysed under a new light. This film, which tells the story of a 42 year old writer, played by Allen, dating a 17 year old high school student, played by 17 year old Mariel Hemingway. Given the disturbing nature of Allen’s later relationship, many have said that the film represents a pedophelic fantasy of Allen’s, as opposed to the work of cinematic art it was once hailed as. Nonetheless, the film still details an inappropriate adult/child relationship in a normalised context.^[9]

1 Kids 1995

The 1995 film Kids centers around several teenagers in New York City in the mid 1990s. At the time of the film’s release it was rated NC-17 due to scenes of underage drug abuse, underage nudity, and a plotline centering around an HIV positive rapist who went around infecting young virgins. It also attracted anger from the general public for these themes and sparked a heated debate about artistic expression. Despite this, it was released unedited. A film so controversial could only be made by one man. The infamous former Hollywood producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, who is now serving a 23 year sentence for his crimes. Although most of the main cast members were over the age of 18 at the time of filming, several such as Leo Fitzpatrick and Rosario Dawson were still underage at the time of filming, and performed explicit actions as such.^[10]

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Sure, some children do sometimes go wrong for one reason or another, and do something so evil that the law simply has to intervene. These situations are tragic, and fortunately quite rare, but what isn’t rare is children misbehaving in general. There will always be kids who make the kinds of mistakes that kids do, but that doesn’t mean the adults always know how to handle it. In this list, we will explore 10 times that overreaction to childish behaviors led to arrests. 

10. A Florida 13 Year Old Was Once Arrested For Farting In Class 

Most of us have probably accidentally passed gas in an embarrassing way at least once, and had to excuse ourselves or act like it didn’t happen while looking properly chastened. We have probably also all either been, or witnessed, a class clown farting on purpose or making farting noises to annoy a teacher, especially a substitute. As long as school exists, there will be class clowns causing disruptions who think they are just the funniest people who has ever lived. 

Now, usually when a situation like this gets out of control, the teacher starts with threats, and eventually sends the offending student to the principal’s office. The student then has to accept school discipline for their behavior, and will have to hear about it from their humiliated parents later. This is why it is so strange that one time in a Florida school, it escalated much farther than that. A 13 year old boy was actually arrested for his disruptive passing of gas, and later even admitted to it, which led to charges of disrupting school function — Why the police needed to be called for simple criminal mischief involving an adolescent is a question that will probably never be answered satisfactorily. 

9. A 10 Year Old Boy Was Arrested For Public Urination 

It was a monumental bust when the police came across a young boy who was committing the crime of the millennium — he was caught urinating behind his mother’s car. This dastardly lawbreaker was quickly taken into custody for being so offensive to the public. The arresting officers made sure to harangue the disturbed youth to ensure that he never forgot what a horrible mistake he had made. 

You see, the officer who made the decision to arrest and scold the young boy felt that it doesn’t matter what age you are; clearly showing yourself off in public is a serious crime, and must be treated as one. His mother had been watching for him, and she was trying to help him avoid trauma, as we all know it is rather embarrassing for a kid to pee themselves, but the officers had no mercy. Fortunately, some sense prevailed as the arresting officer was dismissed, partly after video came to light showing him bring the 10 year old to tears over his “crime”. 

8. A Six Year Old Girl Was Arrested At School For A Tantrum 

Let’s face it, if there was camera footage going back to every humiliating moment from our pasts, probably all of us would have at least a few seriously mortifying toddler tantrums to look back on. Now, for most of us when these incidents occurred, at worst we got in a little trouble at kindergarten, or lost a privilege or something for our behavior. However, one time at an American school, a six year old girl was not only disciplined for throwing a childish tantrum, she was straight up arrested and taken away by the police. 

You see, the teacher was at their wits end because this tiny human had gone so far as to kick at someone, so, flummoxed by this incredible threat to their safety, they called the police. It turns out the same officer who thought it was appropriate to arrest a six year old girl had also arrested a six year old boy on the same day. He was later dismissed for this behavior. It is just as well, as the footage shows the officer was clearly out of line. He was there to help control the situation, not terrorize children. When the child started to settle down because of the officer that should have been the end of it, but he got completely carried away..

7. An Eight Year Old Boy Was Arrested For Hitting His Teacher 

Let’s be honest, even the biggest little kid is, well, still a little kid. So it’s hard to see an eight year old boy as much of a threat to a fully grown adult teacher, who should be able to handle a difficult situation. Unfortunately, at an American school an eight year old boy once got arrested due to a perfect storm of mistakes that really didn’t need to happen at all. You see, the eight year old in question had a substitute teacher that day, and was not getting along with them at all, to the point things were starting to escalate. 

As things got worse, the boy actually warned her not to come close or he would hit her. For some reason, the teacher, instead of deescalating with an eight year old, came close, and got punched in the chest. Showing all the tact and skill with children of a blunt ax, she called in the police, who arrested the eight year old boy for being defiant despite leaving no injury on his teacher. The worst part is it turns out that the boy was listed as being part of a special needs program, had been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder, ADHD, depression, and anxiety — he was on medication for all of this. 

6. An Eight Year Old Boy Was “Arrested” Over Potato Chips 

Many of us have been good and neve even tried to shoplift, but a fair amount of people have probably erred in their lives, especially as little kids, and stolen a small item or two. Most people probably feel bad about this, but would hope that if they had got caught, the adults around wouldn’t treat you like you had just killed someone. You’d like to imagine that if you got caught up in such a situation as a kid and made a mistake like that, the people who caught you would make sure the punishment fits the crime. 

This is why a citizen witness with a camera found it so strange when police were oddly combative to questions, and bullying to an eight year old boy, over the theft of a bag of potato chips. He was led away weeping, thinking he was being fully arrested and taken to jail over petty theft of a bag of chips. The police claim once they had him in the car, away from the citizen’s camera,  they told the boy they were taking him home, and did not actually arrest him. They also claim he had “priors” and thus they had a right to be mean to him. However, there is a term for what they did and it is called a mock arrest, which can (and surely is) pretty traumatizing for a small child.

5. 11 High School Students Got Arrested At Once For A Massive Hallway Brawl 

Let’s start off by noting that, unlike farting in class or throwing a tantrum, looking to cause physical harm to someone else is certainly worthy of repercussions. Still, many people have been in at least one fight, or at least a tussle, in their time at school. Kids are not always the best behaved people, and when you put that many of them together all day, several days a week, with little adult supervision in the hallways, things are going to happen. Most of the time, when people get caught, it just leads to suspension from school, and if repeated, eventual expulsion. However, one time in an American high school things went totally off the rails. 

In this instance, 11 high school students, in the middle of the afternoon, started fighting in the hallways, likely as some kind of group disagreement between two cliques of friends. The fight involved so many people that the school decided the police arresting everyone was the only solution, in their view, that made sense. Rather than suspending students, they went the full nuclear option. Now, arresting all of them may have been a bit much, but it made sense for at least one of the students. One of the highlights of the fight included a female student pushing a deputy so she could get to another female student she wanted to keep fighting with.

4. Kids Get Arrested For Participating In School Food Fights

We all know the scene from multiple kids movies. Someone throws food at someone, and someone else yells “food fight,” a few more people throw stuff. The rest of the people get angry, or shrug, and decide they might as well start in, and on it goes. The principal eventually walks in and blows a whistle, causing everyone to immediately stop, and stare in dread as they realize they are about to be punished. And, as we know, punishment always comes. Kids are suspended, their  parents are called, and the parents tack on more punishment. 

However, in some American states, they take it a bit more seriously than just a suspension and a call to your mom. After a food fight in Texas, 10 students were charged for their part in starting it, and were given the very serious criminal charge of inciting a riot. Now, the state of Illinois is not quite as strict, but when it comes to mass juvenile arrests over throwing food, they’ve got Texas beat, just in terms of sheer numbers. At a food fight at a charter school in Chicago, 25 students were arrested for their participation and were charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct.

3. A 16 Year Old Boy Was Arrested For Jaywalking 

A 16 year old California boy was lucky to be alive after an encounter with police where he was treated to an amount of excessive force that even some of the most authoritarian officers would be ashamed of. You see, the police felt that the teen needed to be dealt with as a very serious criminal with as many cops as they could scramble, as he was a very dangerous threat. They had caught the adolescent committing one of the worst crimes on the planet, and they needed to take it as far as the law would allow. 

The dastardly lad had jaywalked, which on a technical level, can also be considered trespassing in some situations. The officer felt full charges should be leveled against this dangerous African-American youth. When the juvenile was combative about being so forcefully charged and detained over something many of us have done with no consequence, backup was called. The story ends with the teen being slammed to the ground by four cops and arrested for resisting, and trespass, while five other cops look on. 

2. A 14 Year Old Boy Was Arrested For Hacking To Prank His Teacher 

Many of us have done something stupid where we’ve gotten on a sibling or friend’s computer and put a silly or embarrassing image as their wallpaper. It’s innocent kid stuff, and mostly considered a childish prank by all involved and all who witness it. It usually ends in a few cheap laughs, and maybe some harmless payback from the affected party. 

However, one time in an American school, a 14 year old boy’s prank was taken far more seriously than most of our childhood pranks ever were. The menacing youth committed the horrible crime of hacking into school computer systems so he could plant an image of two men kissing on the computer of a teacher he did not like. 

Now, you might think since real hacking was involved, a charge of criminal mischief might be in order, but instead they went ahead and charged him with a full felony cyber crime. Their argument for this is that he could have done something way worse like tampering with grades. Now, most people would likely argue that this same fact is actually in his favor, as he could have done way worse and just did innocent kid stuff. And hey, nothing wrong at all with the concept of police choosing to charge someone for something they might have done. Nope, that’s not a terrifying thought at all.

1. 12 Year Old Black Boy Chased Down, Spit Hooded, Arrested Over Begging 

The actions of the police here are such a farce it is how you would expect a Barney Fife-style cop from a comedy, who gets fired for going too far, to behave. The police saw a 12 year old Black boy running from a private security guard, and without being asked to intervene or having any idea if the kid had even done anything wrong, or had just angered a random security guard, joined in on the chase. Which, to a degree you might be able to understand, because if you see someone fleeing from security, as an officer you might at least want to intervene to find out what the hell is going on. But that’s not where this one ends.

Once they detained the boy, he was — unsurprisingly — combative for being detained by police with no evidence of wrongdoing, and spit at a female officer, to which a 12 year old found himself fitted with a spit hood. Now, some  may think this was warranted, but if the police had looked before they leapt, they would have realized it was the security guard who was committing a crime. You see, the security guard was actually trying to detain the boy because he was panhandling, which isn’t something a security guard can detain an adult for, much less a child.The parents, very understandably and justifiably, filed a lawsuit as they feel the police let racial biases allow them to take the wrong side in a situation without assessing it properly first.

From actors and singers to princes and those just born into fortune, here is a list of some of the worlds wealthiest children. While some of us were playing in the mud outside and crossing our fingers to pass those mid terms, these kids had a whole different life agenda. Read on to find out more about some of these incredibly talented, fortunate, and wealthy kids.

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10 Jaylen Bledsoe

Jaylen Bledsoe is a child genius who, at the age of 17, is already the CEO of his own IT company by the name of Jaylen D. Bledsoe Group. The company was last valued at 3.5 million dollars and aims to partner with big brands and celebrities to promote and expand their brand names. Since then he has also started the ‘Young Entrepreneur University program for teenagers. Through this program Jaylen uses his success to inspire other teenagers like himself and to expose them to the world of entrepreneurship. Some of his biggest partnerships include K Swiss and AT&T as well as a broad range of celebrities such as Steve Harvey. The rapid growth of his IT company lead him into the life of internet sensation. His goal in life, as listed on his website and stated in a number of interviews, is to be the main source of digital strategy and development for celebrities and Fortune 500 companies. With his innovation and passion, his net worth will only go up from here.^[1]

9 Rico Rodriguez

Born in 1998 in Texas USA, Rico rose to fame for his role in the hit television show, Modern Family for which he earns a huge $70,000 dollars per episode. He moved to Los Angeles with his family at the age of six so his older sister (11) could chase her dream of an acting career and despite his initial disinterest, it is clear that the big city grew on him. While his sister was starring in the Disney series, Austin and Ally, Rico was working his way to stardom. His debut role was an ice cream kid prankster on Jimmy Kimmel Live which he did for almost a year before appearing in several series such as Cory in the House, iCarly and NCIS. The role that really lead him to stardom and riches however, was his role as Manny Delgado in the world renowned ABC show, Modern Family. Since landing the part in 2009 he has been nominated for a number of Screen Actors Guild Awards and Teen Choice Awards. His estimated net worth is around 7 million.^[2]

8 Elle Fanning

Also born in 1998, Elle Fanning is among the richest children of the world. Her small fortune began growing when, at the the age of three, she played the role of a younger version of her sister, Dakota Fanning’s, character in the hit film ‘I am Sam’. She again played baby Dakota in the film, Taken, before finally landing her first independent role as Jamie in Daddy Day Care. This was just the start of her career. Her biggest roles to date have been in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8, We Bought a Zoo and Maleficent.

Unlike most child actors, Elle was often hired for older, more mature characters due to her height and incredible acting abilities. This talent has lead her to many awards including a Hollywood Film Festival Award and a Phoenix Film Critics Society Award; both of which she was awarded at the age of thirteen! She has also been nominated for a Saturn Award, Teen Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award. Most children at that age are gunning for sports trophies let alone world renowned acting awards! Her net worth is estimated to be around 5 million.^[3]

7 Jayden Smith

The third child millionaire born in 1998, Jayden Smith, is the son of the world famous Will Smith. Like his father, his riches come from his music and acting careers. His first television debut was in The Pursuit of Happyness where he starred alongside his father and his first independent films were The Karate Kid and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Following these incredible hits he starred again with his father in After Earth. Being born into a family of actors, Jayden was destined for the spotlight however after his film debut he turned down a path of music.

His music career began with a collaboration with Justin Bieber on the track, Never Say Never before he branched out on his own to release his debut album, Syre. The album also features younger sister Willow Smith and ASAP Rocky and peaked at number 24 on the charts. His latest estimated net worth is at 8 million and rising. It will be very interesting to see where the little Smith will take his fortune next, though most recently he has launched a new venture: a vegan food truck for the homeless!^[4]

6 Abigail Breslin

Born in New York City in 1996, Abigail Breslin is yet another child star who has made it onto the list of the richest children in the world. Her first ever appearance on the television screen was at the age of three in a Toys “R” Us Advertisement and has starred in many big name movies since. Her biggest achievement, however, was her role in Little Miss Sunshine for which she receive a Best Actress Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. She is, to date, one of the youngest actresses to ever be nominated for an Academy Award. Two years later, in 2008, she was was named ShoWest’s Female Star of Tomorrow, before making her debut on Broadway.

Aside from her stardom on the screen, she has also composed a number of songs including Christmas in New York, You Suck and Hurricane. On top of this she has penned a book called This May Sound Crazy which discusses the topics of love, loss and Tumblr from the prospective of this incredibly talented all rounder. Why choose one career when you can have them all?

Her net worth is currently estimated at 16 million.^[5]

5 Valentina Paloma Pinault

Born in 2007, Valentina Paloma Pinault was born to billionaire businessman Francois-Henri Pinault and Hollywood star Salma Hayek. It is therefore a no brainer that she was destined for fortune and fame. Her ancestry of French and Mexican lead her to grow up fluently speaking three languages which is an accomplishment in itself and thanks to her parents, she has also been in the spotlight since before she was even born. Just last year, her mother shared a video through social media in which she let her daughter give her a a bob haircut attracting even more attention to the already spotlighted family. Despite being branded as a mini-me version of her mother, the world is still left wondering whether she will use her confidence to follow in her mothers footsteps down a road to Hollywood, or if she will become a businesswoman and work alongside her father. It’s a question only time will answer.

For now her net worth is estimated at 12 million, and that is before even beginning a career.^[6]

4Nick D’Aloisio

At the age of 15, Nick D’Aloisio created the app Summly, which summarises and condenses recent news articles into a format that can be quickly and easily read. Two years later, the app was purchased by Yahoo for 30 million dollars making Nick one of the youngest millionaires in the world. After selling his app design to them, Nick was then hired to work as a product manager of Yahoo News Digest where he went on to win an Apple Design Award.

Despite having enough money to comfortably retire at the age of 17, Nick left his career at Yahoo to study Computer Science and Philosophy at Oxford University. During these studies he took up work as an Entrepreneur in Residence for AirBnb and has announced the later release of a new project he is working on which has raised 30 million in investments already. Exciting stuff to come from this little genius.

His current net value is at 30 million. Surely this will rapidly change after the release of his newest project.^[7]

3 Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead

Born in 2006, thirteen year old Dannielynn is the only surviving child of her late mother Anna Nicole Smith who was well known for her modelling and reality tv personality. At the time of her birth, drama and tabloids struck the family as her step brother passed away and a court case was opened up regarding several individuals who claimed to be the girls father. Five months after her birth, her mother passed away from a prescription drug overdose and she was awarded custody to her DNA proven biological father, photographer Larry Birkhead. Her small fortune did not however come from being in the spotlight of a long winded paternity battle. Instead it came as her biological father organised for her to get ownership of her mothers estate . This made her one of the youngest millionaires in the world. At the age of six she began walking in her mothers footsteps as she worked as a model for Guess Kids. She has also appeared in many talk shows such as Entertainment Tonight as the world follows her extremely controversial life.

Her net worth is at 10 million, most of which was inherited from her mothers estate.^[8]

2Moulay Hassan

Born in 2003, Moulay Hassan is the crown prince of Morocco. He became an internet sensation after attending the One Planet Summit with his father at the age of 14. He was the youngest royal to attend the event and held himself with great stature while greeting kings from all over the world. The moderator at the summit made special mention to Hassan as he expressed his delight in the young royals engagement in the sustainable development program. He is definitely a royal to look out for in the future with his strong engagement already peaking in international news. Not only will his title build on his fortune, but he also wishes to study aviation after graduating from school. Certainly a boy with a mission.

Hassan has an estimated net worth of 1 billion dollars which will rapidly increase after he takes the throne.^[9]

1 Prince George Alexander Louis

Born in 2013 Prince George Alexander Louis is yet another little royal to make it into the list of the worlds wealthiest children. At only the age of 6 he already has reached a fortune most of us could only imagine in our wildest dreams. He is the son of Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and is third in line to the throne of Great Britain and the UK behind his father and grandfather. His birth made international news and was highly anticipated all across the globe to the point where reporters were camped out around the hospital waiting for the news. Ever since then, his face has appeared in tabloids and newspapers following the story of his family and the mischief that he and his younger siblings get up to. He might be royalty and a billionaire at the age of 6 but he is still only a kid.

Prince George Alexander Louis’ net worth is estimated at a huge 3.6 billion. Needless to say, this little boy has some mighty big shoes to fill and the whole world will be watching as he learns to walk the royal way.^[10]

A strange thing happened on Western Frontier. During the days of Wild West, American pioneers were moving out into untamed and treacherous land. They were building their homes in a virtual war zone, on land stolen from the natives, and that meant that their lives—and the lives of their children—were constantly at risk.

Pioneer children, in the days of the American frontier, would often be kidnapped by raiding warriors. When Native American tribes lost their own children in wars with the settlers, they would even the score. They would raid a white village, take their children, and carry them back to their homes as hostages. But when their families tracked them down and tried to rescue them, sometimes, the children didn’t want to go home.

It was a strange phenomenon the settlers of America struggled to understand. Even Benjamin Franklin commented on it. “They become disgusted with our manner of life,” he once wrote about the white children captured by native tribes, “and take the first good opportunity of escaping again into the woods, from whence there is no reclaiming them.”^[1]

10 Frances Slocum

In 1835, a trader named George Ewing met an elderly woman of the Miami tribe named Maconaquah. She was in her sixties and a respected woman among the tribe, a widowed grandmother whose husband had been their chief. And so you can imagine his surprise when this old woman told him she had born to white parents.

As a child, he soon found out, Maconaquah’s name had been Frances Slocum, the daughter of a Quaker family who had been stolen away from home by Seneca warriors when she was five years old. A Miami family had bought her for a few pelts, and they’d raised her as their own.

57 years had passed since her capture. She’d grown up among the Miami, gotten married, seen her husband rise to chiefdom, given him four children, and raised them until they had children of their own.

Frances’s brothers hadn’t stopped looking for her since the day she was captured. When word got out that she was still alive, her brother Isaac met with the sister he’d lost decades ago and begged her to come home.

Frances, though, had forgotten how to speak English. Communicating through an interpreter, she told him, “I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians.”^[2]

True to her word, she stayed with her captors until the day she died—and she was buried next to the man who had been her husband.

9 Cynthia Ann Parker

Cynthia Ann Parker was nine years old when she was kidnapped by Comanche Indians in 1836.^[3] Her family was slaughtered, and she and four other children were dragged off into the night. Incredibly, she survived the whole horrific ordeal—but she wouldn’t survive going back home.

Four years after her capture, a trader named Williams heard that she was still alive, living among the Comanche. He rode into their camp and offered their chief any amount of money he wanted for her freedom. But when he was given the chance to speak to her, Parker simply stared at the ground and refused to say a word.

It took another 20 years before she was freed. A Texas Ranger force attacked the Comanche tribe, and upon seeing the white-skinned Parker among them, brought her back to her family. After 24 years living among the Comanche, though, Parker wasn’t happy about going home.

She had been there so long that she’d married one of the Comanche warriors, a man named Peta Nocona, who the Rangers had killed. As far as she was concerned, these men weren’t her liberators. They were murderers who had killed the man she loved.

They brought her to her uncle’s farm, but Parker didn’t want to be there. She repeatedly tried to run away, and when she realized she wouldn’t escape, she simply stopped eating. Rather than live among the white man, Cynthia Ann Parker starved herself until, weakened and plagued by influenza, she died.

8 Eunice Williams

Eunice Williams’s father got to see her change. After she was kidnapped by Mohawk warriors (reenactment pictured above), her father, Reverend John Williams, tracked her down and tried to get them to let him buy her freedom. The Mohawks refused to sell her, but they did let Rev. Williams talk to the daughter who would never be his again.

Young Eunice was terrified by everything around her. She told her father about the rituals the Mohawks performed, telling him they were “mocking the Devil.”^[4] She’d described a French Catholic missionary who’d been making her pray with him. “I don’t understand one word of [the prayers],” she told her father. “I hope it won’t do me any harm.”

Ten years later, a man named John Schuyler went to see Eunice—but now she was a completely different woman. She dressed and lived like a Mohawk. She had converted to Catholicism, married a warrior, and refused to speak English. He only got four words out of her the whole two hours he spoke to her. When he asked her to come home and see her father, Eunice simply said: “It may not be.”

7 Mary Jemison

Mary Jemison went through one of the most brutal kidnappings of any child. The story of how her Iroquois kidnappers massacred her family is absolutely horrifying—and yet, for some reason, she willingly stayed with her captors until the day she died.

Mary was 13 years old when a raiding party from the Iroquois Confederacy attacked her home. The Jemisons were forced to march through the woods, urged on by a warrior with a whip who lashed them whenever they slowed their step. They were not fed. If someone asked for water, the Iroquois warriors would force them to drink urine.

In the morning, Mary was pulled apart from her family and forced to march another day. She spent the day wondering what had become of her parents. Then, when nightfall came and they stopped to rest, she found out. While she watched, a warrior pulled her mother and father’s severed scalps out of a bag, scraped them clean, and dried them over a fire.^[5]

She remembered seeing her parents’ scalps dry for the rest of her life. In her old age, she would relate the story as if it was a swashbuckling adventure from an exciting childhood, but she never left her home. She moved in with a Seneca family, married a Delaware man, and, for reasons only Mary Jemison truly understood, became so attached to her family that she refused to ever leave their side, regardless of what had happened to her parents.

6 Herman Lehmann

Herman Lehmann didn’t see himself as a white boy living among the Apaches. To him, he was an Apache warrior through and through. He was kidnapped at age ten, and it changed him so much that when he was found eight years later, he couldn’t even remember his own name.

By then, Lehman was a respected warrior in his tribe who called himself “En Da.”^[6] He’d been made a petty chief for his ability to fight, and he’d joined the Apaches in raids and battles, even leading a charge right into a fort full of Texas Rangers.

All that changed, though, when a medicine man killed his adoptive father, an Apache warrior named Carnoviste. Lehman took his revenge and killed the medicine man. He then had to flee into the wilderness. For a year, he lived alone, hiding from the Apaches and the white men alike, until he finally settled down in a Native American reservation.

When his mother heard there was a white-skinned, blue-eyed boy on the reservation, she came out, praying it was her son. At first, she didn’t recognize him, and Herman was less than friendly. “I was an Indian,” he explained, “and I did not like them because they were palefaces.” But Herman’s sister spotted an old scar only he could have and, overcome with joy, cried out, “It’s Herman!”

The sound of the name puzzled him. Somehow, Herman thought he’d heard it before. It took a long moment, Herman would later recall, before he realized that he was hearing his own name.

5 Olive Oatman

When Olive Oatman wrote about her life as a Mohave captive, she called them “savages.” She wrote about them as if they were wild men and her time with them had been hell, but there were hints she wasn’t telling the truth. The biggest clue was as a plain as her face: the large, blue tattoo that covered her jaw.

Oatman had grown up in a Mormon family, but she was captured by Apaches while her family was traveling to California. The Apaches had sold her to a Mohave family that took her as her own, and for five years, she lived as a Mohave.

When Olive’s brother—the sole surviving member of her family—found her, her tribe was suffering through a famine, and many were starving. The people around her were dying, and, worried for her life, her adoptive family let her go home.

Oatman wrote a book about her experiences that criticized the Mohave, but there were signs she wasn’t being totally honest. She dressed like them, lived like them, and had willingly agreed to the blue tattoo on her face. And she’d claimed that the “savages” had not made her “unchaste”—but her name among the Mohave was “Spantsa,” a name meaning “sore vagina.”^[7]

Nobody knew the truth about Olive Oatman’s experience except for her. But some believe that living among the Mohave may have changed her more than she was willing to admit.

4 The Boyd Children

The five Boyd children managed to get away from their captors. After years living with Iroquois and Delaware families, their father brought them back home. Instead of being grateful, though, they bolted into the night. They fled their father’s home to get back to the people who had kidnapped them.

The children had been taken by Iroquois raiders and dragged out so they could be sold to other tribes. On their painful road into captivity, they were forced to watch as the warriors beat their pregnant mother to death for failing to keep up the pace. Her dead body was left behind.

It took four years before their father, John Boyd, was able to rescue any of them. The first one he saved was his eldest son, David. The boy wasn’t as happy to see his father again as John had hoped. David protested and said he didn’t want to leave his Delaware family and, after a short time, snuck out in the night, left his father’s farm, and went back to the tribe.^[8]

Over the next four years, his father went from tribe to tribe, buying his children’s freedom and bringing them back home—and saw nearly every single one sneak out into the night and leave him to go back to their captors. He freed every single one of his children, but he wasn’t able to keep them all at home.

3 Mary Campbell

Mary Campbell is just one name among hundreds of children who were kidnapped during Pontiac’s War. She, and the other children like her, were stolen away from their parents’ homes and sent to live with native tribes as revenge for the deaths of their own people, meant to replace the children the native tribes had lost.

When the war ended, Colonel Henry Bouquet demanded the children be released. He drew up a list of over 200 names of children who had been abducted from their homes, handed it to Pontiac’s warriors, and made them promise to return every one if they ever wanted to see peace in their lives again.

The tribes agreed, and the 200-plus children were sent back to their families. Mary Campbell, though, had to be dragged back to her family by force. She didn’t want to go home—and even once they brought her back, she still tried to escape and run back to the Lenape family that had captured her.

It’s a strange story, but Campbell wasn’t the only one who tried to run from her parents. Of the children Col. Bouquet freed, nearly half tried to escape their biological families, preferring to live with the families that had kidnapped them rather than the ones that had brought them into the world.^[9]

2 Theodore Babb

Theodor Babb, 14 years old, was determined to hate his Comanche captors. They had murdered his mother and dragged him and his ten-year-old sister Bianca into captivity. They could kill him if they wanted, Theodor decided, but he would not live among them.

After days of being beaten for his stubbornness, Theodor tried to escape from his captors, but he didn’t get far. The Comanche dragged him back and beat him brutally. Theodore, though, wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of crying. He wouldn’t even flinch, no matter how hard they hit him.

Frustrated, the Comanche tied him to a tree and started placing grass and branches at his feet, ready to burn him alive. Bianca wailed and cried for her brother’s life, but Theodor still wouldn’t flinch. Throughout it all, he stared the men who were getting ready to kill him in the eyes, daring them to go through with it.^[10]

They didn’t. The Comanche realized this young boy was unusually brave and, instead of killing him, trained him to be a warrior. They armed him, taught him to ride like a Comanche warrior, and showed him how to run raids.

For all he’d resisted it, as a Comanche warrior, Theodore started tapping into a part of himself he’d never been able to touch before. Within six months, he was so much a part of the tribe that when his father tried to buy him back, the Comanche chief was convinced he would refuse to leave.

In the end, Theodore did go home—but he had changed. After just six short months of captivity, he was already a Comanche warrior who had joined in on multiple raids on white men’s farms.

1 Adolph Korn

After Adolph Korn was freed from his Comanche captors, his parents moved him far away from the tribe that had harassed them. Unlike the other children on this list, he had no way to get back to the people who had kidnapped him, so, rather than live with his own parents, he fled into the wilderness and spent his life alone in a cave.

Korn had been captured when was ten years old and sold to a childless Comanche woman. She took him in as his own, and although he was initially distraught over losing his family, he soon started to enjoy it. Living in a frontier home, he’d struggled to get any attention from his eternally busy parents. Now, though, he had an adoptive mother who focused every second of her energy on him. He felt more loved that he had ever felt before.

His parents managed to get him home three years later, but he never stopped being a Comanche. He would raid his neighbors’ farms and steal their cattle. Soon, he’d built up a long police record, and terrified they’d lose their boy to a different type of captivity, his parents moved far away to a remote ranch.

Korn, though, refused to become a white man. Instead, he left his parents’ home and moved into a cave, where he lived in solitude until the day he died. As a family member said, for the rest of his life, “Adolph kept a solitary vigil for the Comanche brothers whom he knew would never return.”^[11]

Childhood is often considered to be a magical time. Imagination is encouraged, and creativity is applauded. As children grow, less importance is placed on imaginative play until it is often positively discouraged when we are adults.

Many behaviors that are supported in children are viewed as mental health disorders in adults. It is thought that many adults still indulge in this kind of play but keep quiet about it out of concern that they will be considered mad.

Here are 10 common childhood behaviors that are considered mental disorders in adults.

10 Human Mental Disorders That Affect Pets Too

10 They Have Imaginary Friends

Many young children have imaginary friends. Sometimes, it is difficult to know whether they are playing “pretend” or whether they really believe that they have friends whom only they can see. These companions can be invisible friends or personified objects (like stuffed animals).

Researchers at the University of Oregon estimate that 37 percent of children have had an invisible friend by age seven. These friends can appear to be humans, animals, or even fantasy creatures. When the invisible friends are human, research has shown that boys almost always see male imaginary friends, while girls have friends of both sexes.

Although it is traditionally thought that these friends are conjured by lonely youngsters looking for companionship, this is not always the case. Many children develop good social skills as a result of their friendships.^[1]

The same cannot always be said for the imaginary friends. They are sometimes naughty—not coming when they are called, for example. Also, when something has been broken or someone has made a mess, the invisible friend is often blamed for it. However, researchers discovered that even very young children were usually aware that their invisible friends were “only pretend.”

Although an imaginary friend in childhood is not a cause for concern, it can become so in adulthood, particularly when it is believed that the friend is real. Adults may act out conversations or role-play situations with a friend who is imagined. When adults talk to invisible friends whom they believe to be real, those individuals may be suffering from schizophrenia. This is particularly true when the friends talk back.

9 They Think They Can Fly

Many children report having a recurring memory of flying.

Some children can vividly describe how flying feels as well as the things that they saw and did while flying. Others develop an inner conviction that they can fly, but they have just forgotten how.

However, this belief in adults can be a symptom of psychosis. In 2013, 17-year-old Henry Kwan jumped from the top-floor balcony of his home after taking synthetic LSD. The drug induced a psychotic episode in which Kwan believed that he could fly. Despite his mother’s attempts to restrain him, Henry Kwan took off his clothes and fell from the balcony to his death.^[2]

This is a particularly dangerous delusion, and sufferers are advised to seek help.

8 They Believe They Are Someone Else

It is common for a child to adopt a different persona. Role-playing can be a crucial part of a child’s development as he “tries out” different characters. Researchers have speculated that pretending to be an astronaut or a fireman, for example, can allow a youngster to practice making “predictions about others’ actions and thoughts.”

While they are playing, children often believe that they are the astronaut or the fireman. For most youngsters, their game will last only an hour or two, though some can become elaborate and last a long time.

However, when adults believe that they are someone else, it may be a sign of dissociative identity disorder (once known as “multiple personality disorder”).

It is thought that this may result from regularly repeated trauma, such as domestic violence or sexual abuse. The brain tries to protect itself by inventing another personality to gain distance from the previous painful experiences and the knowledge that they may happen again.

Studies have shown that as many as 99 percent of patients with dissociative identity disorder have experienced a pattern of recurring, overwhelming, and life-threatening events.^[3]

7 They Think They Can Levitate

Many children believe that they have levitated, usually by floating down the stairs. It is not clear whether they are confusing dreams with reality or whether it is another form of fantasy. But the belief that they have levitated or can levitate is a common one in childhood.

The phenomenon has been around for a long time. Samuel Pepys even recalled an episode of childhood levitation in his diary in 1665. Then it was considered evidence of supernatural intrusion.

Adults have also experienced the illusion that they can float. Often, this takes the form of an out-of-body experience. This may manifest in an isolated episode during which a patient on an operating table floats above himself while watching the medical team working on him.

For most people, these strange episodes do not pose a threat to their overall mental health and can even be a positive experience. However, prolonged out-of-body episodes may indicate that a person is suffering from a depersonalization disorder in which he may feel disconnected from his body and thoughts.^[4]

6 They Think They Are Robots

Robots hold a special fascination for children. They are intrigued by the idea of something that looks and talks like a human but isn’t. Young kids often enjoy pretending to be robots by walking like automatons and talking in stilted robotic voices.

However, some people suffering from a form of depersonalization disorder have distorted perceptions that make them feel like robots. They believe that they are not humans but rather machines without the ability to experience emotion.

The condition is often confused with depression. Although distressing, it is usually temporary. However, without treatment, the symptoms may recur.^[5]

10 Strange Psychological Disorders That Will Blow Your Mind

5 They Believe They Have Special Powers

Young children often believe that they have special or secret powers. It is difficult to know whether they get this idea from movies and TV or whether it is an innate childhood belief. Some experts maintain that the superhero belief gives youngsters a sense of control and assists them in developing patience, helpfulness, and confidence in their own abilities.

However, if you believe that you have superhuman powers as an adult, it can be a sign that you are suffering from delusions of grandeur. This is recognized as delusional behavior. For example, it may take the form of believing that you are secretly the heir to the throne or a celebrity in disguise. Unfortunately, these delusions can last a long time.

One psychiatric journal reported the case of a man who was convinced for 25 years that he was “an internationally renowned secret agent” who had managed to change global military strategy when he was only eight years old. In addition, he was able to direct the maneuvers of the US Army by the power of his mind alone. Oh, and he single-handedly coordinated Kuwait’s liberation.

This man even convinced his wife and child that he was a kind of supercharged James Bond. It was considered to be a case of folie a trois, in which three individuals share the same delusional beliefs.^[6]

The man claimed to have been paid over $100 million for his efforts by grateful countries. Unfortunately, when he tried to withdraw the money, the bank denied that the funds existed.

When foreign countries approached him for his intelligence-gathering abilities, he rebuffed them. In retaliation, they used their influence to refuse him planning permission on his house. At least that’s the way he saw it.

Although the delusions can seem ludicrous to outsiders, it is thought that sufferers genuinely believe them to be true. They are unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality even while they are falsifying “proof” for the benefit of other people.

It is thought that the condition may sometimes be a symptom of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

4 They Do The Same Thing Repeatedly

Children like routine. It is quite common for a child to want to watch the same film, read the same book, or play with the same toy repeatedly. Younger kids can become upset quickly if their routines vary even a little bit.

Adults can also enjoy familiarity and routine. However, when the routine becomes of primary importance and disrupts normal life, it can spill over into an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Although a child might like to listen to the same bedtime story every night because it is comforting and familiar, an adult who needs to read the same page repeatedly to make sure he hasn’t missed a bit is not likely to feel comforted.

The disorder can take up an increasing portion of each day as a sufferer repeats activities until his anxiety passes and he can move on to something else. Experts claim that these checking rituals can last up to 10 hours a day for people with severe OCD, which severely limits their life opportunities.^[7]

3 They Have Night Terrors

Sometimes, children (usually between the ages of 4 and 12) experience night terrors. Although they usually remember little or nothing about these episodes, it can be distressing to witness. The terrors usually begin around 2–3 hours after the child falls asleep. The youngster may sit upright or try to get out of bed. He may scream and appear panicked. The child is also likely to be breathless, sweaty, and have a racing heart as though he has been running.

Night terrors are often temporary. Most children have only a few episodes, though it’s possible to have them more often. It is thought that the terrors usually occur if the child is overtired or sleeping in a new place.

In adults, however, night terrors can be much more serious. Those who experience such episodes are more likely to have a mood-related condition such as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder. A link has also been found between night terrors and post-traumatic stress disorder. Although night terrors are not thought to be dangerous, the underlying causes often require treatment.^[8]

2 They Are Fussy Eaters

When babies and toddlers eat, it is common for them to develop food fads. They may often refuse to eat anything except a very small group of foods or reject anything new. This is frustrating for parents because most foods will be new when children are that young. But it is usually a phase that lasts only a few years.

Some people, however, continue to obsess about food well into adulthood. This can have a severe impact on their mental and physical health. Conditions such as anorexia and bulimia are well known, but some people may also suffer from lesser-known conditions.^[9]

With rumination disorder, sufferers feel compelled to regurgitate and rechew their food. Another problem is avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. In these cases, people do not eat enough to meet their nutritional and energy needs. However, they do not worry about their weight or body shape.

Obviously, these conditions can have a negative effect on quality of life.

1 They See Monsters Under The Bed

At some point, almost every child has been scared of monsters under the bed or in the closet. Films have been made about this subject. Despite the terror induced by movies such as Monsters, Inc., the fear that something dangerous is hiding in dark corners usually disappears by the time a child reaches puberty.

Teraphobia (the fear of monsters) is experienced by almost 100 percent of kids but relatively few adults. However, temporary teraphobia can be induced by watching scary movies or telling ghost stories, but this will generally disappear in a few days.

For some people, however, the feelings of terror persist. Like all phobias, this can begin to affect the sufferer’s quality of life. Treatment includes antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Therapists also suggest leaving the light on.^[10]

Top 10 Culture-Specific Illnesses And Mental Disorders

About The Author: Ward Hazell is a freelance writer who is also studying for a PhD in English Literature.

On Christmas Eve, 1945, a fire ripped through the Sodder family home in the middle of the night. The house was completely destroyed and only four of the nine Sodder children managed to escape—Maurice, 14; Martha, 12; Louis, 9; Jennie, 8; and Betty, 5—were never seen again.

Their parents George and Jennie, alongside their surviving siblings—John, 23; Joe (who was away with the U.S military), 21; Marion, 17; George Jr., 16; and Sylvia, 2—were plagued for the rest of their lives with the mystery of what really happened that night. Did the children die in the fire? Were they murdered or kidnapped?

More than 75 years later, there are still many facts about the disappearance that don’t add up.

10 Mysterious Disappearances of Multiple People

10 Strange Occurrences In The Night

 

The Sodder family home is located in a small Appalachian town, two miles north of Fayetteville, West Virginia. The wooden framed, 7-bedroom house was perfect for businessman George Sodder and his wife, Jennie, to raise their nine children.

On Christmas Eve, five of the Sodder children—Maurice, Martha, Louis, Jennie, and Betty—asked if they could stay up late. Their mother agreed and made the children promise they would lock the door before coming upstairs to bed.

At 12.30 am, Jennie was woken by the sound of the phone ringing. When she answered, an unfamiliar female voice asked for a name she did not know. Jennie heard loud laughter in the background before she told the caller, “You have the wrong number” and hung up. Then as Jennie made her way back to bed, she noticed the door was unlocked and assumed the children had forgotten before they went to bed. She locked the door and went back upstairs. As Jennie began to fall asleep, she heard a loud bang and rolling noise on the roof but thought nothing more of it.^[1]

9 Who Tampered With The Ladders and The Trucks?

 

Not long after Jennie had fallen back asleep, the house was filled with smoke. In a panic, George and Jennie fled from the house whilst shouting for the other children to run for safety too.

Once outside, the horrified parents saw the house was now fully up in flames. They were still frantically trying to save their five children who were trapped inside. The room where the children slept was in the attic so George ran to get the ladders and hopefully make an escape route for them via the bedroom window.

However, when George ran to the garage for the ladders he noticed these were missing despite using them only the day before. Later, an investigation found the ladders had been thrown in a ditch.

Forgetting the ladders, George decided to start one of his trucks, drive to the side of the house and use this to climb up to the window. He tried both of his trucks and neither would start—again, they had both worked fine the previous day. George’s arm was also badly cut from smashing the windows in an attempt to save his children, although there was now no hope for their survival.^[2]

8 No Help From The Fire Department

 

George and Jennie tried to call the fire department but the phone lines were not working. They ran to the neighboring houses for help but within 45 minutes the entire Sodder family home had collapsed.

One neighbor decided to drive and find the fire chief and although the fire department was only 2.5 miles from the Sodder family house, the fire trucks did not respond to the emergency until 8 am—seven hours after the fire had begun. By then, all that remained of the house was ash and debris.

Following a brief search amongst the rubble, the Sodder family had expected to find whole skeletons but only a few bone fragments were recovered. The fire department then postponed the investigation as it was now Christmas Day. It was another heartbreaking moment for George and Jennie who were desperately searching for their children’s remains.

Eerily, when a maintenance worker arrived to the house after the fire, it was discovered the phone lines had been cut rather than burned out in the fire as they originally assumed.^[3]

7 The Creepy Predictions Before The Fire

 

In October, just a couple of months before the fire, a life insurance salesman threatened George that his house “(would go) up in smoke and (his) children (would be) destroyed.” George thought the salesman was angry as he couldn’t make a sale but with the events that followed, it seems this would turn out to be eerily accurate.

Then an electrician visited and warned that the faulty fuse boxes could cause a severe fire. George called the electric company who had just rewired the property and installed a new gas stove to complain. The company reassured George that the house was perfectly safe and the electrician who mentioned the fault was likely looking to charge for extra work. The matter was just brushed off.

Following an inquest from the fire department, it was discovered that the fire had started in one of the basement rooms as a result of faulty wiring from Christmas lights. Strangely, the insurance salesman who threatened George was also one of the jurors during the inquest. The children’s deaths were then declared “accidental”.^[4]

6 The Fire Was Not Consistent Enough To Destroy Bones

Jennie was devastated by the loss of her children and she decided to investigate their disappearance independently. She visited a local crematorium to find out if the fire could have destroyed human bone.

Most recently, Dr. Ramzi Amri, a researcher at Harvard Medical School, revealed: “Bones do not exactly melt, it’s more falling apart as they are very solid.” For an entire skeleton to be destroyed in a fire, the temperature is required to burn at more than 850 degrees Fahrenheit (454 degrees Celsius) consistently for 2 hours. The Sodder family home was on fire for 45 minutes as the wooden framed structure and wind speed that night meant the property did not stand a chance.

Considering how long it took for the house to collapse, there should, in theory, still be the skeletons of the five children amongst the debris. Yet, these were never recovered from the site.

10 Harrowing Christmas Accounts That Were Far From Festive

5 The Kidnapping Plot

 

Jennie was then led to believe that her children had been kidnapped. Speaking to The Raleigh Register more than 30 years after the fire, she said, “You can’t tell me five children could burn up in a little old house like that and something wouldn’t be left? No, I’ll never believe it.”

This then led to even more questions. How could five children possibly be kidnapped from their family home in the middle of the night without waking either the parents or the other siblings? Also, surely by now, wouldn’t someone recognize the missing children and alert the authorities?

Even Jennie herself was considered suspicious at one time. “For a while, a rumor was going around that somebody had $75,000 worth of insurance on the children but we didn’t have any insurance,” she revealed.^[5]

4 Sighting Of The Children In A Hotel

 

George and Jennie paid for a giant billboard that read: “What Was The Fate Of Our Children. Kidnapped, Murdered, or Burned?” They offered a reward of $5,000 (approx. $217,000 today) for any helpful information.

The police received many reports following the disappearance of the children and one witness claimed she served them breakfast the morning after the fire. The woman was working at a hotel in Charleston, 50 miles west from the Sodder Home.

She reported:

“The children were accompanied by two women and two men, all of Italian extraction. They registered about midnight. I tried to talk to the children in a friendly manner, but the men appeared hostile and refused to allow me to talk to these children. One of the men looked at me in a hostile manner; he turned around and began talking rapidly in Italian. Immediately, the whole party stopped talking to me. I sensed that I was being frozen out and so I said nothing more. They left early the next morning.”

The sighting either did not prove helpful for the investigation or they were unable to locate the group the witness had described.^[6]

3 George Sodder’s Political Conflicts

 

There are many online sleuths who believe George’s political beliefs fueled the fateful events that happened on Christmas Eve, 1945.

Born in 1895, in Sardinia, he was born Georgio Soddu before immigrating to America at the age of 13. Nobody close to George ever discussed the reason behind his immigration as it was a topic he would avoid. George eventually worked his way up to the top in business and owned his own coal-trucking company. He then met Jennie Cipriani, who was also an Italian immigrant.

The Sodder family was well-respected and middle-class but George had strong anti-Mussolini views and was against the Fascist government in his Italian homeland. In Fayetteville, many of the families were also Italian immigrants who disagreed strongly with George’s views.

Also, the coal-trucking business was under constant pressure from the Sicilian Mafia and George was aware of this. A few weeks before the fire, the Sodder children had complained that a strange car was following them as they returned home from school. Many strongly believe the disappearance of the children was connected to the Mafia.^[7]

2 The Photo of Louis Sodder

 

Louis Sodder was just 9-years-old when he was last seen alive. Then 22 years after his disappearance, his mother Jennie received a letter from Central City, Kentucky, with no return address. The letter also came with a picture that is believed to be Louis.

A message on the back of the photo read:
Louis Sodder
I love brother Frankie
Ilil boys
A90132 or 35

George and Jennie hired a private detective to look into the photo and try to locate the sender. Unfortunately, the detective was at another dead end. George told the Charleston Gazette-Mail it was “like hitting a rock wall – we can’t go any further.” Despite never being able to confirm if the photo really was Louis, the parents still had this framed and placed above the fireplace.^[8]

1 FBI Investigation Derailed

 

The disappearance of the Sodder children has remained unsolved for decades. Yet despite this becoming such a high profile case, the FBI has never been involved. In 1947, George and Jennie made an appeal directly to J. Edgar Hoover hoping he would help.

They received the following personal letter from Hoover, who wrote, “Although I would like to be of service, the matter related appears to be of local character and does not come within the investigative jurisdiction of this bureau.” Other FBI agents said they were willing to help the family once they were granted permission from local authorities, but for some reason, both the Fayetteville police and fire department refused to give the go-ahead.

It was another devastating blow for the Sodder family. The home that perished in the fire was never rebuilt, instead, they turned the plot into a memorial garden and tended to the flowers every day.

George died in 1969 and Jennie died in 1989. The only surviving member of the family was Sylvia, the youngest of the Sodder children, who was only 2-years-old on the night of the fire.^[9]

Top 10 Extremely Unsettling Disappearances

Having written a list on the ten most evil children in the world, I am very pleased to have received this submission of 7 children who are far from evil; they are children who have changed the world by their actions or examples.

Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank was a German-born Jewish girl from the city of Frankfurt. She gained international fame posthumously following the publication of her diary which documents her experiences hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.

Anne and her family moved to Amsterdam in 1933 after the Nazis gained power in Germany, and were trapped by the occupation of the Netherlands, which began in 1940. As persecutions against the Jewish population increased, the family went into hiding in July 1942 in hidden rooms in her father Otto Frank’s office building. After two years, the group was betrayed and transported to concentration camps. Seven months after her arrest, Anne Frank died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, within days of the death of her sister, Margot Frank. Her father Otto, the only survivor of the group, returned to Amsterdam after the war to find that her diary had been saved, and his efforts led to its publication in 1947. It was translated from its original Dutch and first published in English in 1952 as The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank has been acknowledged for the quality of her writing, and has become one of the most renowned and discussed of Holocaust victims.

Image: 1985 USSR Stamp with “Samantha Smith” in Cyrillic.

Samantha Reed Smith was an American schoolgirl from Manchester, Maine who became famous in the Cold War-era United States and Soviet Union. In November 1982, when Smith was 10 years old, she wrote to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov, seeking to understand why the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were so tense. Her letter was published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda. Samantha was happy to discover that her letter had been published, however, she had not received a reply. She then sent a letter to the Soviet Union’s Ambassador to the United States asking if Mr. Andropov intended to respond. On April 26, 1983, she received a response from Andropov.

Smith attracted extensive media attention in both countries as a “Goodwill Ambassador”, and became known as “America’s Youngest Ambassador” participating in peacemaking activities in Japan. She wrote a book and co-starred in a television series, before her death at the age of 13 in the Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 plane crash.

Image: Sam Nzima’s famous June 16, 1976 photograph of Mbuyisa Makhubo carrying Hector Pieterson, accompanied by Hector’s sister, Antoinette.

Hector Pieterson (1964 – 16 June 1976) became the iconic image of the 1976 Soweto uprising in apartheid South Africa when a news photograph by Sam Nzima of the dying Hector being carried by a fellow student, was published around the world. He was killed at the age of 12 when the police opened fire on protesting students. For years, June 16 stood as a symbol of resistance to the brutality of the apartheid government. Today, it is known as National Youth Day — a day on which South Africans honour young people and bring attention to their needs.
Since June 1976, Hector’s surname has been spelled Peterson and Pietersen by the press but the family insists that the correct spelling is Pieterson. The Pieterson family was originally the Pitso family but decided to adopt the Pieterson name to try to pass as “Coloured” (the apartheid-era name for people of mixed race), because Coloured people enjoyed somewhat better privileges under apartheid than blacks did.

On June 16, 2002 the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum was opened near the place he was shot in Orlando West, Soweto to honour Hector and those who died around the country in the 1976 uprising.

Iqbal Masih was a Pakistani boy who was sold to a carpet industry as a child slave at the age of 4 for the equivalent of (12) USD. Iqbal was held by a string to a carpet loom in a small town called Muridke near Lahore. He was made to work twelve hours per day. Due to long hours of hard work and insufficient food and care, Iqbal was undersized. At twelve years of age, Iqbal was the size of a six-year old boy. At the age of 10, he escaped the brutal slavery and later joined a Bonded Labor Liberation Front of Pakistan to help stop child labour around the world, and Iqbal helped over 3,000 Pakistani children that were in bonded labour, escape to freedom. Iqbal gave talks about child labour all around the world.

He was murdered on Easter Sunday 1995. It is assumed by many that he was assassinated by members of the “Carpet Mafia” because of the publicity he brought towards the child labour industry. Some locals were accused of the crime, however.

In 1994, Iqbal was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Award. In 2000, when The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child was formed, he was posthumously awarded this prize as one of the first laureates.

Nkosi, born Xolani Nkosi, was born to Nonthlanthla Daphne Nkosi in a township east of Johannesburg in 1989. He never knew his father. Nkosi was HIV-positive from birth, and was legally adopted by Gail Johnson, a Johannesburg Public Relations practitioner, when his own mother, debilitated by the disease, was no longer able to care for him. The young Nkosi Johnson first came to public attention in 1997, when a primary school in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville refused to accept him as a pupil because of his HIV-positive status. The incident caused a furor at the highest political level—South Africa’s Constitution forbids discrimination on the grounds of medical status—and the school later reversed its decision.
Nkosi was the keynote speaker at the 13th International AIDS Conference, where he encouraged AIDS victims to be open about the disease and to seek equal treatment. Nkosi finished his speech with the words.

“Care for us and accept us – we are all human beings. We are normal. We have hands. We have feet. We can walk, we can talk, we have needs just like everyone else – don’t be afraid of us – we are all the same!”

Nelson Mandela referred to Nkosi as an “icon of the struggle for life.” He was ranked fifth amongst SABC3’s Great South Africans. At the time of his death, he was the longest-surviving HIV-positive born child.

Together with his foster mother, Nkosi founded a refuge for HIV positive mothers and their children, Nkosi’s Haven, in Johannesburg.[6] In November 2005, Gail represented Nkosi when he posthumously received the International Children’s Peace Prize from the hands of Mikhail Gorbachev. Nkosi’s Haven received the US $100,000 prize money from the KidsRights Foundation as well as a statuette which has been named the Nkosi in Nkosi Johnson’s honour. Nkosi’s life is the subject of the book We Are All the Same by Jim Wooten.

At the age of five, he was taken away from his parents and for three years he worked in the fields. After he was rescued by activists of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Om campaigned for free education in his native Rajasthan. He then helped to set up a network of what are known as “child friendly villages”, places where children’s rights are respected and child labour is not allowed. He also set up a network that aims to give all children a birth certificate as a way of helping to protect them from exploitation. He also worked to ensure children are given birth certificates. He says such registration is the first step towards enshrining children’s rights, proving their age, and helping to protect them from slavery, trafficking, forced marriage or serving as a child soldiers.

He was awarded the International Children’s Peace Prize by former South African President FW de Klerk, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

A 16-year-old Zambian girl, Thandiwe Chama of Lusaka’s Chawama township has scooped the 2007 International Children’s Peace Prize beating 28 other nominees from across the world. The prestigious prize was presented to Thandiwe in The Hague on Sunday by Nobel Peace Laureate, Betty Williams and Live8 initiator, Sir Bob Geldof. The Prize consists of a statuette – “the Nkosi” – and 100,000 euros, which are to be awarded to a direct aid project in the spirit of the young winner’s efforts.

In 1999, when she was only eight-years-old, her school was closed because there were no teachers. Thandiwe refused to accept this and led 60 other children in walking to find another school. As a result, all the children were taken into the Jack Cecup School. Strengthened by this achievement, Thandiwe has been fighting ever since for the right to education for all children. Thandiwe continues to impress, for example by speaking in church about children and AIDS – an issue not always discussed easily in churches. With a friend, she wrote and illustrated a booklet called “The Chicken with AIDS”, telling young children about the perils of AIDS.

“It’s so important to know that also a child has rights. At school I learned about rights. And I knew then that this was something I wanted to fight for. Because if children are given an opportunity, they for sure can contribute in making this world a better place.” – Thandiwe Chama

This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains extracts from Wikipedia.

Contributor: Clouds

What is it about feral children that both fascinate and horrify us? On the one hand, we think of the fictional Tarzan of the jungle living high up in the forest’s canopy, swinging gracefully on vines from tree to tree. He is happy living in isolation with animals. When Tarzan is in trouble, he calls to the elephants, “aahuaaa uaaa uaaaaaaaa,” and they come running.

But then there are the real-life feral children that populate history. In many cases, they raise questions that professionals can’t answer. Like, how did they end up living with wolves? How did they survive? And most importantly, how could any parent abandon or even lose their child to the great outdoors?

If you want to talk about children who fell through the cracks, the following ten examples tackle cases of feral children.

Related: Top 10 Tales Of Children Lost In The Wilderness

10 The Wild Girl of Champagne

Rags-to-riches feral child Marie-Angélique Memmie Le Blanc was reportedly born in Wisconsin in 1712. According to Le Blanc, when she was around seven, she was painted black and sold as a slave. She was traveling with a Canadian woman to France when the ship sunk, but Le Blanc and another girl made it to shore and began living in a French forest foraging on roots, killing small animals, and eating their raw flesh.

Eventually, the two girls parted ways. One day villagers spotted Le Blanc stealing apples and sicced a bulldog on her. Le Blanc killed the dog with one blow and ran up a tree, escaping capture by swinging from branch to branch like Tarzan, disappearing back into the forest. A nobleman ordered she be captured. When she was finally caught, she emitted disturbing animal sounds.

At the time, professionals estimated her age to be between ten and eighteen years old. Unlike many feral children, Le Blanc learned to speak and became fluent in French. In the decades to come, she became a woman of influence in Paris. She met with royalty and attracted admirers the world over thanks to her exotic personal history. Marie Le Blanc died a wealthy woman in 1771.

9 Peter: The Wild Boy of Hanover

Peter’s story is another one of the earliest recorded instances of a feral child. In 1725, Peter was found living, some would say existing, in a German forest. He walked on all fours like a dog or wolf and foraged for plants to eat. When he was captured, he was handed over to a local Count for safekeeping. Peter couldn’t speak but made sounds described by locals as sounding like an orangutan. No doubt, he was looked upon as a wild fascination, not unlike an animal in a zoo.

Eventually, Peter was shipped off to England and placed under the protection of King George I. The courtiers, for a time, were fascinated by this most undomesticated soul. When they were bored of him, he was sent to live with a farm family where Peter happily spent his days repeatedly loading up a cart with animal dung and then dumping it out. Peter loved the autumn nature and would often venture into the woods to search for acorns to eat.

Sometimes, Peter traveled far during his autumn outings and didn’t know how to get back home. The kindly farmer who looked after him had a metal collar made for Peter that locked around his neck. The outside of the metal band was engraved with Peter’s name, address, and a message saying if you find Peter, please return him to this address, and you will be paid for your trouble.

Peter died in February of 1785; to this day, flowers are left on his churchyard grave.

8 Feral Child Raised by Orangutans

This next feral child story unfolded in the 21st century on the island of Borneo, bordered on the northwest by the South China Sea and by the Sulu Sea on the northeast. In the jungles of Borneo, a young boy was spotted by the locals living in the wild. After two years of failed attempts, the authorities managed to capture the little boy in 2014. Doctors guessed his age to be somewhere between four and seven years old.

Amazingly, he was living with a congress of fierce orangutans who took exception to the boy being taken from them. Four of the creatures had to be subdued with tranquilizer darts before officials could grab the child. Initially, the boy was nervous, but doctors eventually won his trust. They examined him and found the child to be in surprisingly good health despite living and eating wild.

At the time of his capture, the boy exhibited no signs of human socialization. With the help of social services, this feral child began the rigorous task of learning how to live and act like a “normal” child.

7 Ng Chhaidy

In 1974, Ng Chhaidy and her male cousin, also four years old, disappeared into the jungle outside their small east Indian village on the border of Myanmar. A heavy rainstorm washed away any tracks of their travel. Five days later, Ng’s cousin was found, but there were no signs of Ng. Ng was eventually given up for dead, and the family and village moved on the best they could.

However, for decades, people talked about seeing glimpses of a woman living in the jungle. In 2012, at the age of 42, Ng Chhaidy was found living naked in a cemetery in Myanmar. She was taken in by a woman who eventually crossed paths with Ng’s father three years later and saw a family resemblance between the two. Based on Ng’s birthmark on her face and the fact she was left-handed, Ng was reunited with her father and mother, who believed their daughter had been dead for decades.

6 The Bird Boy

This feral child named Prava was discovered at age seven, living with his mother in a small two-bedroom apartment in Russia. In her early thirties at the time, the mother kept one room filled with cages holding the dozens of birds she owned.

Sadly, she kept her son in the same room as the birds and never spoke to him. When Prava was found, he couldn’t talk; instead, he chirped like a bird. After being rescued, if Prava grew frustrated, he flapped his arms and hands like a bird.

5 Oxana Malaya

One of the best-documented cases of a feral child is of an eight-year-old Ukrainian girl discovered in 1991 in the farming village of Nova Blagovishchenka.

Oxana Malaya was born in 1983 but was neglected by alcoholic parents. As a result, Oxana lived and grew up amongst dogs. When she was discovered, she was living in a kennel with dogs. It’s estimated she’d been living with the dogs since age two. One night when Oxana was left outside by her parents, she sought warmth and crawled into the nearby dog kennel and curled up with the dogs. The comfort the dogs offered no doubt conveyed to the child that here, at last, was a safe place.

By the time authorities were alerted and came for Oxana, her overall behavior was extremely dog-like. She walked on her hands and feet, bared her teeth, and barked if someone came too close. She knew only two words, “yes” and “no,” but lacked the basic human skills like bathing. Instead, she groomed herself just like dogs do.

Oxana was placed in a foster facility for developmentally impaired children. It took years of both special therapy and schooling to undo the damage. Over time Oxana did learn how to speak. Today she milks cows for a living. Doctors believe that Oxana will never fully overcome her intellectual impairment.

During a 2013 interview on a Ukrainian television show, she stated that she disliked being referred to as the “dog-girl.” She just wants to be treated as a normal person. Oxana’s hopes and dreams entail seeing her brothers more often and finding her mother one day.

4 The Chicken Boy

In many cases, authorities don’t know how children become feral. But with Sujit Kumar, it was evident what happened.

In 1978, on the island of Fiji, Sujit was found living in a chicken coop. His parents banished him to the coop due to behavioral problems. When his mother committed suicide, Sujit’s grandfather took over care of the boy but still made him live in the chicken coop. At the age of eight, Sujit was discovered one day in the middle of the road flapping and clucking like a chicken.

After being rescued, it was discovered his fingers were turned inward. During feeding time, he would peck at his food like a chicken, crouch on his chair like a chicken roosting, and communicate by making a clicking noise with his tongue.

3 Amala and Kamala

In 1926, Reverend Singh, who ran an orphanage, published an account of being given two girls who had been rescued from wolves in Midnapore, India.

Singh reported that the girls acted like wolves. They refused to be clothed, scratched, and bit if anyone got too close. Neither of them liked cooked food, preferring raw meat eaten from a bowl placed on the ground before them. They walked around on their hands and knees, which were thick with calluses. The girls preferred night to daylight and seemed to have a heightened sense of smell and hearing. They exhibited fear but, other than that, exhibited no human emotions. They didn’t speak but at night would howl to their wolf pack.

Supposedly, Amala and Kamala were abandoned by their families and came to be mothered by a female wolf. They were described as having retreating foreheads and lower jaws that protruded, not unlike the wolf that mothered them. It should be noted that over the years, the authenticity of this story has been questioned. Amala died in September 1921, and Kamala died in November 1929.

2 Chilean Dog Boy

At five, an unnamed boy from southern Chile was tossed out of his home by his abusive parents. He eventually was placed in a children’s home but two years later escaped and began living a feral life on the streets of Talcahuano with a pack of fifteen stray dogs. They would scavenge for food on the streets, but all lived in a cave on the city’s outskirts.

In 2001, when authorities were alerted to how the boy was surviving, they closed in on him. To avoid being caught, he jumped into the cold waters of the Pacific Ocean but was rescued by a policeman who dived in after him. He was filthy, dressed in dirty rags, and his hair was matted.

After a day of recovering in the hospital, professionals took the boy to another children’s home. He showed signs of depression along with signs of aggression. Although he wasn’t speaking much, he could talk intelligible words if he chose to.

1 The Syrian Gazelle

This nameless feral boy was reported to be lost at the age of seven. He was reported living in a northern province of the Sahara Desert with a herd of gazelle in the 1940s.

An anthropologist traveling in the area managed to contact the boy who was surviving on grasses and roots. The boy was described as exhibiting the mannerisms of gazelles. He twitched his muscles, ears, nose, and scalp. He sniffed the air for danger and, even when sleeping, was on high alert, waking quickly by a sound.

The first attempt to capture him was by two men in a Jeep, but the boy ran. They clocked his superhuman speeds between 50 and 55mph and gauged his leaps through the air to be as high as thirteen feet.

The boy was successfully captured at age fifteen. In captivity, he ate and cried like a gazelle. He eventually escaped to freedom, and nobody knows what happened to him.

Kids today do have some advantages, as the technology of the world helps provide much quicker communication, and information at everyone’s fingertips. There is also a wealth of entertainment. However, today’s children are also losing a lot of things as well. As the world becomes a less trusting place, and technology changes how we do things, a lot of what we used to take for granted as children may be going away forever. 

10. Snow Days

Most adults are nostalgic about snow days and think back on them fondly. There is nothing like waking up on a school day to a thick layer of snow on the ground, and a confirmation from the TV that you don’t have to go to school, and have a whole day of freedom to play in the snow with your friends. Sure, maybe somewhere in the back of your head you know you’ll have to make it up later, but as a kid you don’t really have much of a sense of the long term, and for one day, everything is just bliss. 

Unfortunately, it seems snow days are slowly being phased out of existence in favor of remote learning. While the experiments were already starting, the pandemic seemed to have been the kick schools were waiting for and 39% of school districts are now using some form of remote learning instead of snow days. While some places resist either out of fear remote learning will not be good enough, or out of sheer nostalgia, the snowier states that have the most need for continuity of education are phasing out snow days the quickest, 

9. Safety At School

Today in America, dozens to hundreds of school gun incidents are happening every year and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that it is stopping or slowing down anytime soon. This has led to Americans doing something they do really well — talking about the whole issue at length from every angle, getting angry at each other, doing nothing, and then doing the same thing over again. 

People have talked about mental health, and gun control and little to nothing has been done about these issues. However, what has been done is a small amount of increased security at school, and active shooter drills to teach kids what to do if a shooter comes to kill them. Now, it is this last part many parents object to, as they feel it is overly traumatizing to their children. Of course the counter argument is that it is supposed to save lives, but some feel it is hardly going to help children that much in a real situation, and the odds aren’t even that high for an individual child to be involved in one.

8. Old School Trick Or Treating 

Trick or treating used to be one of the time honored traditions of kids all around, but it is slowly evolving out of what it once was. Many people remember fondly going door to door throughout their neighborhood and getting all sorts of different varieties of candy and filling up a pillowcase with pounds of loot. It was a way for the neighborhood to get to know each other, and was like a big festival for everyone to enjoy — like a giant, moving party in the streets that went door to door without any worries about organization. 

Unfortunately, while trick or treating will continue to exist, it is evolving away from the more free spirited even it once was, into something much more regimented and focused on safety. Many parents are less comfortable with their kids going door to door without them, for all sorts of reasons, but mainly it is likely because they just don’t know their neighbors as well anymore. In the 1970’s about 30% of people regularly talked to their neighbors, and only 20% did not do so. Now, that stat has flipped, and things like trunk or treating where the parents are more likely to know all the people involved, have become much more popular. 

7. Free Play At Daycare 

Many parents have to find someone to watch their younger kids while they are at work, or watch their slightly older kids after school before they can get home. For this reason, daycare has existed for a long time and been a necessity for many parents. For a long time, it was a place where there may be some rules, some activities and your kid is safe, but for the most part they play, have fun and hang out with other kids. 

However, today things are changing in a much more businesslike and success oriented direction. Call it daycare, call it after school care, preschool or whatever you want, because at this point they are becoming more and more the same thing in all but name. In order to attract parents, pretty much every institution that watches your kids now wants to teach them stuff in order to impress you and get you to open your wallet and choose them over anyone else. To give instant satisfaction, many are now regularly sending the kids home with completed craft projects so the parents can see what the kids are doing. The child’s success becomes a product, and they become more a number to the system than ever. 

6. Licking The Beaters 

Most people have fond memories of licking the beaters, often while making desserts with their mom, grandma or other baked goods loving guardian. That taste of the dough before it goes into the oven is a delicious way of priming our taste buds for what’s to come and helps us to be patient when we know it not only has to still bake, but also cool as well. Now, as people have become more concerned about food safety, many guardians are throwing this time honored tradition in the garbage. 

The issue is unfortunately twofold, and that makes the problem worse. First, many people were already considering ending this tradition due to fears about salmonella, which is the sickness you can get from eating raw eggs, Now, some people figured it might not be the worst illness, is fairly rare if the eggs are good, and figured it might be worth going ahead with anyways. However, now health experts are pointing out that even worse is the E. Coli you can get from raw flour, which is in most dough even if it is egg free 

5. School Music Programs 

A lot of people fondly remember music programs from school, whether they were a part of a choir or a band. Going to band camp used to be common enough that it is a meme from an old comedy movie that pretty much everyone knows. Even if you didn’t use it to become a musician, many people feel it helped them learn better communication skills, and made them want to come to school and learn. 

Now, while many educators agree that these are good reasons to keep a school music program, they often are the first thing to be cut when budget cuts come. In the United States, when the first recession hit in the late 2000’s, school music programs were facing the hammer before anything else. Since then, only about half of the country has access to school music programs, and those in minority or poor communities are least likely to have them. However, it isn’t just the United States that is cutting school music programs. In the United Kingdom, a study of school budget cuts found that if things continue to go at the same pace, A-level music programs could be gone by 2033. 

4. Drinking From The Garden Hose 

One thing that just smacks of summer nostalgia is drinking from the garden hose. Many kids have done it over the years with no ill effects, and remember the experience fondly. It is something many kids would do as a group so they could all play outside together without traipsing inside and annoying neighbor moms as they ditty up the moms house. To avoid sharing germs, kids would drink from the stream coming from the hose, and not from the metal itself. 

However, it seems that parents are now teaching their kids that this practice is dangerous, and doing everything they can to encourage against it. The issue at play is basically germs, and not really much else. With the internet at their fingertips, the parents of the modern world have full access to the information that tells them that garden  hoses are a petri dish for bacteria and viruses. Their is also the issue of insects possibly nesting inside the garden hose that you are drinking from. Even worse, as garden hoses are not meant for drinking they don’t need to meet drinking water laws. This means the fittings can often contain, or leech out lead. 

3. Fast Food Playgrounds In America, Adventure Playgrounds In The UK 

Back before America started to get a bit more health conscious, at least on the surface, you could go to almost any fast food restaurant, especially McDonalds’, and find a playground area full of colorful slides and almost certainly a ball pit. These playgrounds could get all sorts of bodily fluids on them, and the employees almost certainly hated cleaning them up, but they had a sort of romantic feel to them. The idea that after eating a kid would go play and get some exercise with other kids was a nice idea. Unfortunately, since fast food no longer wants to market to kids, those days are gone. 

In the UK, adventure playgrounds are slowly starting to disappear. For those who are not familiar with them, an adventure playground is a safe area, usually more natural, where kids can play freely and explore the world with each other. Oftentimes there are wardens around to help guide the kids and keep everything safe. While they are a great idea, budget cuts are starting to wipe them off the map in the UK. Already 28 have been shut down which is 15% of the original total. Sadly, it seems to be a trend with local city councils. 

2. Pokemon Cards 

Pokemon cards have always been popular with collectors, even in the early days. Kids from the 90’s remember well just how popular a Charizard could be even when he first came out, and just how much people would give for a first edition in mint condition.  However, over the years, the issue has become an even bigger problem and culminated in a situation where kids are getting entirely boxed out of something that is meant for them and really them alone. 

Now, we aren’t saying an adult can’t like Pokemon, or enjoy collecting older cards, but there comes a point where you are being unfair to children. Logan Paul recently bought a min condition first edition Charizard for $300,000 which helped drive up the speculation market even further. This speculation along with the pandemic led to a level of renewed adult interest that caused prices on not just old cards, but newer ones to skyrocket. Adults started buying up all the cards so the kids couldn’t, so Target put in limits of how many you could buy at a time. Then there was an incident with a gun in a parking lot, and they stopped selling them entirely for safety reasons. Again, we aren’t saying an adult can’t like Pokekon, but if your hobby involves buying up all the toys meant for little kids, and culminates in gun battles, there is something very wrong there. 

1. Lemonade Stands

It used to be that if little kids wanted to save up for something, they would put together a lemonade stand on their front lawn. It was always seen as simply cute by most people, and mostly harmless. Many have fond memories of making their own lemonade stand as a kid, and many others have fond memories of buying lemonade from kids knowing that they just helped a budding entrepreneur work towards their goals in a cool way — and enjoy some delicious lemonade doing it. 

However, especially in the United States where regulations are king, it has become almost impossible for kids to run a lemonade stand anymore. Between all the various bits of reed tape, they usually find themselves shut down by the local sheriff  before long. In one recent case an eight year old boy from Ohio had his stand shut down because he didn’t have a vendor’s permit. In another recent case, a ten and eleven year old set of girl cousins who were trying to save up money got their lemonade stand shut down because they didn’t have a business license or health permit. To add insult to injury, they told the girls, who had been running their stand for almost a year, that they needed to calculate the excise tax and pay it to the government.