Growing up Too Fast
2006-12-18

by D. E. Herrod, BEdE, MDiv

Recently I read an article about kids growing up too fast. The article really disturbed me. First, the article described "tweens" as ages 8-12. Traditionally "tweens" have been ages 10-12. These children are exhibiting teenage behaviors. They are internet savvy, have MySpace pages and cell phones; children as young as 10 are even going on dates with parent’s approval. They are growing up faster than previous generations. In some cases they are the ones in control at home.

Why does this bother me? There is a loss of innocence. Children are being exposed to things that they are not emotionally prepared to handle. Childhood is an important part of the developmental process. Children need play and a time to grow and explore before reaching adulthood. What is the rush?

Am I saying that children should be raised in a bubble and not exposed to the outside world? Of course I do not believe they should be insulated from reality. However, I am saying they need to be allowed to be children. Children need to be protected from things that are not age appropriate. Tweens or teens for that matter do not need to be listening to music that has explicit language, promote drug use or extreme violence.

As a former computer teacher, I am in favor of children developing good computer skills. I am concerned about children and teens having uncontrolled access to the internet. Legally anyone under 13 should not have a MySpace page. The internet is a great tool, but it can also be dangerous. A child, no matter how mature, does not have the life experience and wisdom to consistently discern when something might be harmful.

I even taught children as young as kindergarten how to use Excel. However, they did not learn the same skills that I taught on the high school and middle school level. I found that many times students in 4th-5th grade could learn how to use Word as well as adults. They could produce a document that looked very nice and professional, until you read it. 4th-5th graders are still children, and we must remember that. In my adolescent psychology class, the professor defined immaturity as not acting ones age. This included teens and (tweens) that acted to mature for their age as well as those that exhibited behavior that was too young.