Children today aren’t that different from children decades ago. They like to play, and laugh. They are curious, and sometimes reckless, and they occasionally get into trouble, without knowing why. It’s not so much the children that have changed, as the world that they live in, and the adults that run it.

Years ago, children were expected to remain children for a long time. Growing up was a gradual process, and while you had chores to do and rules to obey, you were also expected to play and enjoy the formative years. You were not expected to understand “grown up” problems, nor were you exposed to them.

Today’s children are subjected to every imaginable scenario from the time they are old enough to know what is going on around them. They are forced to try to understand family break ups, and intricate relationships that they shouldn’t be involved in until much later in life.

TV, movies, and events in their own homes, that once were considered taboo, are now common. Parents have come to the conclusion that children should be told everything, and some schools have proposed teaching explicit sex education to children as young as first grade.

In days gone by, children as old as thirteen and fourteen were still playing with toys. Now, children as young as five or six are made up to look like twenty something budding movie stars, and told that to succeed they must be prettier, and better than everyone else.

Waiting lines for pre-schools and accelerated educational programs form before children are born. Programs are provided to teach the child to read and write at earlier and earlier ages, and the rush is on to get them into school and out of college before ages when their ancestors were barely allowed to cross the street without supervision.

The danger in all this pressure is that the behaviors, language, values, and morals of children today, are reflecting all the pressure that has been put on them by society. It also reflects the attitude of some parents that their little ones should be allowed to fend for themselves, mature at the speed of light, and need as little attention and guidance as possible.

Given the opportunity and the time, children today could once again have time to be kids, adjust gradually to the world, and grow up better adjusted and happier, if the world would only let them.