The story about Genie is so intriguing to me. However, this is not the first time I have
heard or even watching the story about Genie. The first time I heard about the story of
Genie was last year in my Introduction to Psychology class at the University of Minnesota
Morris. It was also not the last time I heard about it. I again learned about the story of
Genie last semester in my Introduction to Sociology class, also at the University of
Minnesota Morris. Although, in both of those classes I did not watch the entire video,
instead we just watched certain clips of the video to get the general idea about the story.
The story about Genie, or the wild child, is about a child that was severely neglected and
abused in the 1970s. It was thought that her father found out Genie was mentally retarded
at a young age, and instead of raising her like a normal child he locked her in a room and
left her there. Most of the time Genie was tied to potty chair and left to sit for days with no
interaction. When Genie was finally found, at about the age of 13, she was brought to a
hospital where she stayed for awhile with doctors and therapists for her physical and
mental health. Genie’s story grew in attention and many doctors and therapist became
interested in her case. Over the next couple of years, Genie was raised in foster care and
seen by different therapists and teachers to see if Genie could eventually live a normal life.
