I don’t have children so parents should forgive my seemingly impertinent line of questioning if it seems obvious to them.
But, as someone who often encounters your offspring in public spaces, as well as chips in for their public education, safety and healthcare, and as someone who will eventually depend on those former children when they become adults driving policy decisions and steering the economy, I do have standing to ask the question and expect an answer:
Are we still letting kids be kids these days or is that sentiment as antiquated as the notion that a woman’s place is in the kitchen while a man’s home is his castle?
To answer that we need to define what it is to be a kid. For the sake of a simple explanation we’ll agree to the legal definition as someone under the age of 18 with fewer responsibilities—and rights—than adults. But that definition may be where the clarity ends.
For many the era of childhood, or kid-dom, is that period in which their lives are free of the stresses often associated with responsibilities that accompany adulthood. It’s a time in which innocence is preserved. The challenges, hardships and worries of living in a community and social responsibility are hidden from them. But that model has been changing for some time.
There have always been the outliers, child stars who cast larger than life images on movie and television screens, or rock stages, who found themselves, carrying the mantle of job provider and source of income. The the majority of their peers, however, were free of that burden.
But now, it seems, the expectation to be prepared or keep up with technology to have a good chance in the job market seems as though it’s chipping away at that freedom to be stress free.
Students are getting younger and younger when they are introduced to science and technology courses and camps that are becoming a necessity in a tech heavy world.
Social media exposes kids to the power of personal brand building and the potential for income in becoming an “influencer.” Away from the classroom and tech, young student athletes are trained to excel in their sport in the hopes of gaining a college scholarship that will help set them up for success.
What’s it mean to be a kid these days? It sounds exhausting.
