Have you ever looked at someone younger than you and wondered if you had the same childhood? The kids today definitely don’t have the childhood we had. They want to experience things that older people do; younger girls buying makeup and skincare products they really don’t need and wearing inappropriate clothing. Boys are learning about activities such as sports gambling and playing video games that are not age-appropriate. Pastimes we did, such as coloring, playing with Legos, going outside and playing Roblox while being on the phone with friends. Kids today want to rush life, instead of enjoying it and doing things their age, and the main culprit, the rise of technology. Parents are allowing their kids to get a phone at the age of eight or nine, exposing them to a world of content that they shouldn’t yet hear or see.
TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms are exposing kids to videos or information not fitting for their age. They are already concerned with how they act, how they dress and even how they look. Parents need to step up and keep their children off social media until they have had a proper, tech-free childhood experience.
Children have started to wear low-waisted pants and clothes that reveal their stomachs. Buying and putting on makeup and skincare on their faces that they don’t need. Young girls are getting these ideas through social media. They see popular trends and think it’s cool. However, they fail to understand that they are simply too young to be participating and shouldn’t have access to this content in the first place.
Worryingly, 29 percent of parents with children under seven permit their kids to use cell phones without supervision, while 40 percent allow unsupervised computer use, according to the source Aleteia.
Something that kids don’t understand is that growing up comes too fast, bringing the stress and workload that is adult life.
“I see many kids who are already acting like teenagers, not knowing the challenges that actually come with being one: the stress, the workload, and the pressure are the downsides of being a teen. What kids don’t realize is that they are taking their youth for granted,” Tiwari said, a student op-ed writer from Metea Valley High School in Illinois.
Kids need to slow down and not rush life. They actually need to enjoy their childhood, and the only people capable of allowing this to happen are their parents. Parents should impose stricter restrictions on their children’s use of social media. Limiting their content consumption makes it harder for them to be swayed by older individuals and peers engaging in activities that are not typical or targeted for young age groups. Society as well should stop normalizing kids being chronically online, consuming things that are unfit for their age and rushing into adulthood without truly enjoying their childhood.
Photo Credit: “Teenagers at Play” by Alex Proimos is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
