I don’t know if children are born with a natural tendency to be malicious. There are
obviously cases where children are perfect. Take for example Malia. Growing up, my mother
would repeatedly remind me of how I should be more like this wonderful child, she had perfect
form when dancing, perfect behavior, perfect everything. I on the other hand, was the typical
naughty 4-year old. There was one time that my dad picked me up from my ballet class and
took me grocery shopping to this small grocery store. He put me in my little ballet tutu into the
cart, and wheeled me to the back of the family-run grocery store where all the fresh produce
was located. The cart was moved to the back corner next to this gigantic stack of apples. My
dad turned around, giving the little devil in me the opportunity to come out and play. I snatched
an apple from the tower with my grubby four-year old hands and took the biggest bite I could
with my tiny mouth, before placing the apple back in the stack. For the next 5 minutes I
continued this process in the deserted grocery store, sneaking looks at my dad to make sure he
didn’t see me. I’m positive I must have taken bites out of at least 20 apples, ruining the store’s
entire stock. Suddenly in the midst of my antic my dad spun around, catching me in the act. At
that moment, Malia’s face flashed through my head, all I could think was: “I am in huge trouble.

Needless to say, my parents spent what felt like eternity drilling into my head what good “store manners” were. I could never tell you whether or not children are born with a natural tendency to be malicious, but I can surely tell you that my naughty childhood taught me some of the biggest lessons of my life.