Without some ability to know these things, I think a human being could never really be happy and in turn never spread the ability to know love. .
Body.
A newborn human child knows nothing of love. He or she is completely helpless, mostly ignorant, dependent and vulnerable. If the child is left alone, uncared for for any time before the he or she is six or seven years in age, the child will most likely die. The child will take longer than any living creature to learn independence. And, it seems that, as societies become more complicated and sophisticated, the time before independence is attained is extended to the point to which the individual remains dependent if not economically, emotionally, until his or her death (Buscaglia 58).
I believe a child's parents are the most influential part of a child's life. It is up to them to provide a stable foundation on witch the child is able to rely on. In order for this to happen the parents themselves must have a stable relationship. They must know for themselves what love is in order to properly covey it to their child. They must provide an environment for the child that has the right blend of compassion, understanding and independence. The child must learn how learn for his or herself through the teachings of his or her parents.
If a child's family life is without this learned love than the child is deprived of a certain understanding that inhibits growth and development. If the child comes home everyday to find dad working late and mom drunk and preoccupied with the television, the child will learn this way of life because that's just what it is for the child; life. Instead of the child learning the way to live from his or her parents, the child learns from everybody else present in his or her life. The television and the kids at school provide the child with warped lessons in life and skewed views of love. The child never really knows love so he or she never learns to love.
