I always thought the topic of feral children was interesting, but I never knew it could also be hilarious. Real cases are extremely rare. To me there's a difference between the documented abuse of keeping a child caged and isolated at home, and claiming that a child has been "raised" by animals. I'm less inclined to believe the latter. Have a look at the video and see what you think of the dog-raised Oxana Malaya.
Thanks for the video. Very well done. I agree that feral children seem to be just odd -- maybe extreme?-- cases of neglect. The cases discussed were fascinating, though, because they illustrate and underscore the fact that human "gestation" is no mere 9 month affair; it takes what? 4, 5, 6 years at least to end up with a human child capable of full functionality (and sometimes I think that number is actually closer to 90).
It was very, very hard for me to watch that monkey experiment with the fake fur 'mother'.
Good programming, Cracker!
Posted by: carl in Atlanta at September 17, 2006 07:32 AMIt's been an enthralling subject for centuries.
I'm not sure how Oxana Malaya fits in - she would have heard language all around her. She's not normal, definitely, but how much is from neglect and how much is natural weirdness, I couldn't say.
I had a friend that used to bark like that.
He was on acid a lot.
Posted by: Bill from INDC at September 17, 2006 07:56 PMI remember catching that on TV. It was pretty interesting. Somehow I am always amazed at how neglectful some parents can be. I'm not sure why I continue to be surprised but I always am.
Posted by: Dayngr at September 18, 2006 11:37 PM