Children are growing up too fast!
According to a study made by very interesting various people children are growing up way too fast, much faster than any adult can keep up with. I think the terminology is ‘age compression’ (they could have thought of a better title, but hey, that’s me). Apparently children stop believing in the tooth fairy and all that by the age of four whereas their parents stopped believing in such things around the age of ten. So why are our children growing up “too fast”? I suppose the answer is probably quite easy. There are loads of options around now especially with the internet where children can learn a lot of life skills without proper interaction! Also a lot of ‘young’ kids have older brothers and sisters so they learn from them as well.
We usually see the negative sides of kids growing too fast such as drug dealing etc but I don’t reckon it’s a completely bad thing. In a world where everything is happening yesterday I’m not surprised to find that they HAVE to grow up sooner or be left behind. In the UK you chose the direction of your life by the time you’re 15 (with the year 9 options). Of course you can change your mind like I did but essentially that’s what they’re asking you to do.
On the other hand though, if I look at it from a cynical point of view, it can also be a bad trend. Children and everyone else are more susceptible to marketing and the media. Kids now want ipods for xmas not a Barbie doll, they want laptops not desk computers, everything’s going technology crazy! And they only want these things because they see it on T.V. or their friends have it. But ‘age compression’ is not just limited to technology. Children are now having children and that’s where the negative connotations of growing too fast lie. Can they handle the responsibilities of adulthood when they’re children?
But is it the children’s fault?
According to a study made by very interesting various people children are growing up way too fast, much faster than any adult can keep up with. I think the terminology is ‘age compression’ (they could have thought of a better title, but hey, that’s me). Apparently children stop believing in the tooth fairy and all that by the age of four whereas their parents stopped believing in such things around the age of ten. So why are our children growing up “too fast”? I suppose the answer is probably quite easy. There are loads of options around now especially with the internet where children can learn a lot of life skills without proper interaction! Also a lot of ‘young’ kids have older brothers and sisters so they learn from them as well.
We usually see the negative sides of kids growing too fast such as drug dealing etc but I don’t reckon it’s a completely bad thing. In a world where everything is happening yesterday I’m not surprised to find that they HAVE to grow up sooner or be left behind. In the UK you chose the direction of your life by the time you’re 15 (with the year 9 options). Of course you can change your mind like I did but essentially that’s what they’re asking you to do.
On the other hand though, if I look at it from a cynical point of view, it can also be a bad trend. Children and everyone else are more susceptible to marketing and the media. Kids now want ipods for xmas not a Barbie doll, they want laptops not desk computers, everything’s going technology crazy! And they only want these things because they see it on T.V. or their friends have it. But ‘age compression’ is not just limited to technology. Children are now having children and that’s where the negative connotations of growing too fast lie. Can they handle the responsibilities of adulthood when they’re children?
But is it the children’s fault?
This leads into the next story:
Girl diagnosed with depression.
I saw an article in a newspaper about a girl who was diagnosed with depression at the age of four. Now her mum thought that depression was an adult psychological ‘disease’ but it seems this has proved her wrong. The girl became depressed because she was unable to attend the school her friends attended - they got in, she didn’t.
I don’t understand why she would be diagnosed with depression because of this. Have there not been times when we want something so bad and can’t get it? Does that mean we should be diagnosed with depression too? I mean, COME ON! What’s going on here? Now the girl knows what depression is at the age of four, she’s probably going to be depressed more often simply because it’s in the back of her mind. The girl is upset, that’s all it is. We all get upset from time to time, it’s healthy and it’s what helps us grow. I feel sorry for her mum because she now has to keep her child happy unless she may get ‘depressed’ again…it’s ridiculous! Kids ARE growing up too fast but what choice do they have?
Choice leads me onto the third story:
Children to stay in school till the age of 18?
It has been proposed that kids should have to go to school up until the age of 18. This is a tough one, at first I thought it was a great idea but now I’m not too sure. I mean, forcing children to go to school increases competition for those who REALLY want to go onto FE or HE. This in turn will force children to grow even faster as parents try to teach their children even more complicated things to evade the competition as much as possible. For those who go because they have too, they may end up corrupting the more genuine ones. Another negative association is the fact that college is not for everyone. Some people are good academically and some are good practically so how do they cater to both? I reckon they should introduce a lot more practical aspects within learning, that way, they will have the skills they need when applying for jobs and they all win in the end.
Sometimes I wonder why they proposed this, are we getting dumber? The answer is probably ‘Yes’ simply because everything is done for us now. Give me homework and I’ll just pop on the net and type it all in Google then copy and paste, add a few ‘ands’ and thes’ maybe use a different word here and there…simple!
‘On the other hand’
Keeping children in education till the age of 18 keeps them in check. It means that kids stay kids a lot longer so I suppose it could help dampen this ‘age compression’ thing. It means that kids learn more than they would had they dropped out at 16 and it eventually MAY equal better job opportunities for them (although not guaranteed as I know), so they end up winning in the end.
O well, just gotta wait and see what happens!
Girl diagnosed with depression.
I saw an article in a newspaper about a girl who was diagnosed with depression at the age of four. Now her mum thought that depression was an adult psychological ‘disease’ but it seems this has proved her wrong. The girl became depressed because she was unable to attend the school her friends attended - they got in, she didn’t.
I don’t understand why she would be diagnosed with depression because of this. Have there not been times when we want something so bad and can’t get it? Does that mean we should be diagnosed with depression too? I mean, COME ON! What’s going on here? Now the girl knows what depression is at the age of four, she’s probably going to be depressed more often simply because it’s in the back of her mind. The girl is upset, that’s all it is. We all get upset from time to time, it’s healthy and it’s what helps us grow. I feel sorry for her mum because she now has to keep her child happy unless she may get ‘depressed’ again…it’s ridiculous! Kids ARE growing up too fast but what choice do they have?
Choice leads me onto the third story:
Children to stay in school till the age of 18?
It has been proposed that kids should have to go to school up until the age of 18. This is a tough one, at first I thought it was a great idea but now I’m not too sure. I mean, forcing children to go to school increases competition for those who REALLY want to go onto FE or HE. This in turn will force children to grow even faster as parents try to teach their children even more complicated things to evade the competition as much as possible. For those who go because they have too, they may end up corrupting the more genuine ones. Another negative association is the fact that college is not for everyone. Some people are good academically and some are good practically so how do they cater to both? I reckon they should introduce a lot more practical aspects within learning, that way, they will have the skills they need when applying for jobs and they all win in the end.
Sometimes I wonder why they proposed this, are we getting dumber? The answer is probably ‘Yes’ simply because everything is done for us now. Give me homework and I’ll just pop on the net and type it all in Google then copy and paste, add a few ‘ands’ and thes’ maybe use a different word here and there…simple!
‘On the other hand’
Keeping children in education till the age of 18 keeps them in check. It means that kids stay kids a lot longer so I suppose it could help dampen this ‘age compression’ thing. It means that kids learn more than they would had they dropped out at 16 and it eventually MAY equal better job opportunities for them (although not guaranteed as I know), so they end up winning in the end.
O well, just gotta wait and see what happens!
1 comment:
Hello Lady_T. Howz the new job going? Too busy to blog it up wiv your readers now ?
Sure you're fine but keep us posted.
Aqua.
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