I am honestly jealous of the fact that little kids today are growing up in what I perceive as a technological haven- so many social studies and the like have proven that exposure to the internet and technology in general increases cognition and intelligence; I'm one of the many millions of children that can attest to that on a personal level. I feel that, with all of the breakthroughs in technology in the past 20 years, kids that grow up today will be smarter than our current generation by the time they hit adulthood, and frankly, it sucks. It's only natural that each successive generation is smarter than the last, but I hate being on the brink, so to say. It's one of my worst phobias: I can visualize myself enjoying life as a computer technician or programmer in adulthood and along comes this kid half my age that can do everything I can and more, and he hasn't been through any formal program beyond a Computer Introductions class in secondary school. Don't get me wrong, I know MOST kids will still be fuckups in the next generation and that only a small minority will actually be able to thrive in these conditions, but it's still pretty creepy to think about. Recall how smart people were 100 years ago; look at how smart we are now; imagine how smart we'll be in an additional 100 years. The best we can do is live in the present, but every day that I have to go through the minor pains of middle-class life in America, I wish (futilely) that I had been born a thousand years from now in some kind of Utopian society overflowing with perfection. It's not an uncommon fantasy or dream, and unless life extension technologies increase dramatically within the next half century, it will remain nothing more than a dream for us all.

...er, I seem to have gone off on a big tangent there. Enough of my pseudo-philosophy, back to the main thread: My phobias are probably without warrant. Overall intelligence in our youngin's definitely seems to be on a decline, and a rapid one at that. Just turn on the Maury Show to see what I'm talking about- 12 year old mothers that are addicted to drugs and alcohol, people with chronic tendencies to cheat or sleep around, kids with a near psychological dependency on violence... our culture today is a damn cesspool of naive, innocent children being tricked to believe that you have to break laws and social conventions to be seen as 'cool', kids who grow up around and accept violence and extreme drug abuse- I'm not talking about people who get into a bar fight every now and then or smoke a joint, I'm talking about little kids with peach fuzz and cracking voices running around on the streets with tire irons and baseball bats, getting drugs from their deadbeat older siblings, drinking and partying and essentially killing themselves. Most of the next generation won't live past 40 or 50- from liver disease and cancer if they're lucky, from gang beatings and shootings if they're not. I live in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the most violent cities in the United States. We have some of the highest murder and assault rates in the whole country last time I checked- I see the things I mentioned earlier going on at least once a week, even though I try to avoid the bad areas and limit my time alone outside.

tl;dr: I feel like an oldfaeg who has to yell at these 'hip' new idiots roaming the streets with their shorts hanging down to their ankles, fighting and stealing to impress each other, and it's bittersweet to realize that so many of the children in the next generation will die before I do because of their bad choices in life.

I don't think they are growing up faster today, but rather that their innocence is taken at a younger age.

If we follow piagetian and vygotskian development, we see that children are developing still instages as proposed by piaget (although neopiagetians would propose an additional stage that occurs after adolescence). If we follow vygotsky, we are seeing that children learn from their surroundings, and their surroundings are getting increasingly PG13+

I think that's pretty accurate. Bit lazy to write a whole spiel on it, but you get the idea.

Developmental psychologists? I was honestly not in a state to read and remember during that section of my psychology course.

Anyway, yes, children are being forced to "grow up" too quickly, but "grow up" has taken on a terrible meaning of simply acting mature as is shown by varying media. Our surroundings have, over time, become more and more inclined toward the more decadent and darker realities of adulthood (yet many still think of the '50s and such as being innocent, better times, when in reality there were still the same amount of problems, just different and more hidden) and, unfortunately, children are exposed to the same amount of dark decadence that is commonly displayed. I won't say that it's wrong to accept and display the vices and evils that occur with adulthood, because they are there and, let's be frank, they aren't going away any time soon; however, we're supposed to give our kids time enough to grow without being bombarded by the pain in the world, and allow them to keep their innocence until they can organically branch out and discover exactly what this world is. I'm not saying to coddle kids, not to discipline them, or to keep them hidden from reality, but simply not to thrust so much violence, hatred, distemperament and harshness at them so early.

I'm a fairly open person, and I can tell you that I would work to keep my children, if and when I have any, not sheltered, but retainers of their innocence as long as they are content to remain within that. Once they feel they can branch out, they will, and if they need help understanding the world, hopefully at that point I'll be able to help them.

Until then, hell, I have a hard time understanding this world of ours myself.

The disadvantages can be that if those kids are learning to become more mature by following role models that are involved in criminal activities or are simply a bad influence then its a disadvantage. Some kids at my school were having sex at 13, selling drugs about the same time etc. They think they're all adult and that they're pretty hard. They start shit with older kids and get fucked up, some die or get paralyzed etc.

Another would be those who end up having really troubled adult lives because of high stress childhoods. Examples would include the eldest of orphans that has to take care of their own siblings from young age.


Also, from about the age of 10 up until 15-17 kids think they are old/smart enough to do certain thing when they are not and tend to make stupid mistakes that should/can only be learned through guidance and experience.

I don't know where you live, but I'd venture a guess to say it's a complete shithole. I've never seen any 12-14 year old pregnant girls in or around the city I live in.

So what. They aspire to look like people/characters they like. Kids have always been doing that.

About 2 weeks ago. It is fun.

Good job predicting what everyone would say.

Kid's who show weakness will be bullied. Way of life. Deal with it you 'S.N.A.K'.
~What is the world coming to...[/QUOTE]
Robots and lightsabers.


Why? If the kids do something that is actually wrong (that 'bad' on TV have done) then their parents will rectify that. Being a kid is a trial and error process, you do shit wrong, then learn from that.

Maybe in your shitty little town... See my response to AirGoof. Same thing.

Completely contradictory example right there. The eldest orphan would grow up to have extremely high leadership and organisational skills due to that. Include independence and you've got yourself a perfect citizen there. Anywho, I reject your premise, but I won't go too into that right now.

Kids from ages 10-17 do shit regardless of how mature they are.

First of all, define "too quickly".
In my opinion, the question is irrelevant.
But I will answer due to my love of irrelevance.
No. Children grow up as they normally should. There is no "too quickly". It just is. You can't force a child to grow or mature. You can force manners and respect down their throats but you can not force maturity or growth.

Not to form a tangent, but on the topic, it is not responsible to allow such children as bush, or obama, to rule nations.


Whatever happend to rites of passage?

I'm 13 and life is just to fast!

Tribal life is the life humanity is supposed to live.
Technology life is the life for robots.


I am not a robot, and i doubt you are either.
Go play outside till sunset. it's better than anything the web has to offer.

I get out alot i play for all school athelic teams life just goes fast!