Did I grow up too fast? Did I take advantage of my childhood? Or did I just give in to the pressures of wanting to be an adult as soon as I could?”
-12 year old little girl
I wanted to write a blog on this because I think it is such an interesting and true problem we have going on in our country today.
In my opinion I do think kids are growing up way too fast. Kids aren’t picking up baby dolls as much or watching cartoons like Winnie the pooh. Instead they’re picking up cellphones/purses and watching shows like Hannah Montana. Kids as young as 7 are getting cellphones! Yes, cell phones can be a good thing for young kids, if you’re using it for emergency’s purposes, but a lot of these kids aren’t using them in that way. Most of the kids who have one, was not their mothers idea, it was the kids who kept begging their parents for one. On top of that, girls even in the second grade are asking their parents to let them wear bras. It is safe to say that 8 years is the new 13 and 13 is the new 16.
I think most of this is due to the media and the parents. The media seems to put more and more focus on sexual content, popularity and beauty. As for parents, both may work or are very busy. Dinner time as a family is a rare thing. In 1900, 5.1million mothers worked. Now in 2010 are generation is experiencing the record rise in working moms. About 65.7 million are working and that number is expected to rise to 75million by 2014. I understand both parent’s working may be necessary for financial reasons. But mothers are also supposed to be the nurtures of the family. They are supposed to be mothers! Mom’s should stay home if they can. Their children need them. I believe parents spend far too less time with their children than they should. Being a parent is a ministry in itself. It is a beautiful vocation that doesn’t get enough praise.
“The future of the world and the Church passes through the family" (Familiaris Consortio, #79). The family is the very bedrock of Foundation of society. Cracks in that bedrock will eventually result in earthquakes in society. It is impossible to have a healthy society without healthy families and that is a fact.
Did I mention another problem going on with our country? It is laziness. The average person watches about 20 hours of tv a week. That’s not counting video games. Why are there so many less kids playing outside these days? Instead their watching tv, or playing video games, eating junk food. What happened to our kid’s imaginations? Imagination is key to a child’s brain development. Imagination helps the child develop emotionally as well. Now there are new wii games where you can play sports inside your home?! Now when people say they played tennis, soccer and even bowling, they’re going to have to specify whether it was the wii tennis or the real one.
”Many adults remember spending long hours after school, on weekends, and during the summer playing outdoors, mostly in unstructured and unsupervised play. But today, children are spending 25% less time engaged in outdoor play than their parents' did. Dramatic increases in screen time and other factors have contributed to this decrease in active play, yet play is critically important for child health, especially unstructured play in the great outdoors.
The physical, psychological, social, and emotional benefits of play have been well documented. Unstructured play and physical activity promote healthy brain development9 as well as the development of imagination and creativity.10,11 Active play with friends develops important social skills such as conflict resolution and negotiating skills, and fosters constructive group interaction and cooperation” For more on Imaginative Play Click Here
Overall this has become a huge problem in our society. It might sound a little harsh and may offend some people, but in truth I’m just telling it like it is.
Why don't we see these commercials as much anymore?
Instead our kids are seeing these-
