EMC: Abstract: Secret of the Wild Child

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Secret of the Wild Child

• 1994 ----- color ----- 55 min ----- vhs
• (Nova series) Raised in isolation, "Genie" was a wild child, uncivilized, barely able to walk or talk. There were indications that she was beaten for making noise. NOVA follows the controversial efforts to unlock the Secret of the Wild Child. Once in a great while, civilized society comes across a wild child, a child who has grown up in severe isolation with virtually no human contact. This is the story of such a case that began in Los Angeles on November 4, 1970. Genie was taken to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles where she immediately won the hearts of doctors and scientists. She was about to test an idea important to science and society: that a nurturing environment could make up for even the most nightmarish of pasts. One of the strangest chapters of this story is the timing of the premiere The Wild Child, for Truffaut's movie about history's most famous wild child opened exactly one week after Genie was discovered.
• Topics: (Adolescence, Anthropology, Child Abuse and Neglect, Linguistics, Psychology: Developmental)

		Educational Media Collection risimiki@u.washington.edu Modified: January 11, 2007