Were they treating Dawn too much like a baby?

[Chosen Enemy]

I'm talking about the period before they find out Dawn is the key.
The gang, Buffy, Joyce, Giles... everybody treated Dawn as if she was a baby (even Willow says Dawn was the baby, which I know wasn't literally, but still). And she was 14. A teenager. Nevermind the fact that the character was meant to be younger. Canon wise, she was a teenager, yet they treated her as if she were 5! Like Dawn said, she's old enough to be a babysitter, yet she was babysitted. I felt kinda sorry for her.

 

[frenchy]

I understand what you mean because I though the same thing before! But we have to admit that she didn't show to Buffy that she can be trusted! For exemple the night of Halloween...
And I think it's normal that she was over protected because everyone in the gang knows what was really happening on Sunnydale, they knew it wasn't safe to be alone for a girl who can't defended herself!

Am I clear?^^

 

[Ripper666]

I agree with frenchy and want to admit, that I don't think that Joss had the reference to the age. So may he treated her unwilling like a Baby. But I also think he wanted to let it looks like the way it was. A baby-treated teenager. So the hole story got more voltage! What will Dawn do next? Cry? Freak out? No one knew!

 

[kittenpoker]

I've noticed this as well.... not so much that she's treated like a baby but more that she's treated like nusiance - especially by buffy. She was given to buffy to protect, but buffy really doesn't start to embrace the role until she finds out that dawn is the key. It seems that until then she treats dawn like an annoying burden she's been saddled with. I think they're love, their bond and their relationship only begins to truly warm and flourish once the truth is revealed.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I do think they were babying Dawn a little too much. She was 15 years old and they were treating her like she was 12.

 

[Marril96]

I think they were treating her like a baby too much. At her age, Buffy slayed vampires and demons, yet Dawn is not allowed even to be home alone. As a 15 year old girl myself, I find that a bit insulting. It's like saying she's stupid and cannot be trusted to be alone. I was staying home alone when I was around ten and nothing bad ever happened, yet she at 15 couldn't be trusted to be home alone.

 

[sisterofmercy]

She was babied a bit but given the context of living on the hellmouth with no powers and having slayer for a sister who attracts attention from all manner of evil things, it's reasonable to go overboard protection wise. If only so it means she stays out of the way while Buffy does her job.

I think Joyce babied her a bit because of the divorce and because she was the youngest, as well as the fact that she had to have a sister with such a lethal occupation.

---------- Post added at 09:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:51 PM ----------

I also think perhaps it was a way of compensating for the fact that Buffy didn't get as much of a childhood as she should have, so she made more effort to make up for it with Dawn.

 

[EvilWillow]

I think it was a bit unfair that they thought she needed a babysitter. As she said, "I'm old enough to BE a babysitter."

Other than that, I think they treated her like she a acted: a child.

A mature teenager would not constantly take things so personal and scream "Get out" over and over (and annoyingly I might add).

I rather liked Dawn in season 7...except in the "Him" episode. 😛

 

[SlayerFest]

I don't understand why the hell she needed a babysitter at the age of 14. She really was old enough to be a babysitter haha. Then again, if Harmony had showed up, and she'd invited her in...she'd be dead.

Maybe they treated her like one early on, because she acted like one 😉 I mean Buffy was slaying vampires at the age of 15 and her mom didn't seem too worried about her. Imagine season 1 Buffy needing a babysitter...haha. I can't imagine Buffy or Joyce letting Dawn go to the Bronze. It's weird, she was sort of portrayed as a 12 year old or something, and Buffy seemed more like 18 at the age of 15/16.