Losing our Childhoods?, 2006, by Lauren Smith

From MemoryArchive

Who: Lauren Smith
What: Children Today
When: October 2006
Where: Ohio

There was a memoir on this website about a woman getting her first cell phone. It sparked a thought of mine I had the other night. Technology is a great thing- I of all people can't really talk against it, seeing as I am one who employs it and keeps technology thriving. But as the world grows more and more savvy, children begin to become more and more like miniature adults. Childhood is traditionally cherished and prolonged in our culture, seeing as we don't really become a separate appendage from our families until we are completely and totally independent in most situations. But recently, even over just the past 5 years, it seems parents are trying to get their kids to grow up faster and faster. Or adults are just letting children fulfill the desire to be 'grown up' before they're actually ready. 4-year-old children have cell phones for God's sakes. The internet is a playplace for kids of all ages, and young girls dress like they're 30. Teenagers get busted for drinking more often than adults do, and 75% of teenage girls lose their virginity by the age of 17, according to a national poll for 2006.

My memoir represents remembering a time when children were actually children and actually had a childhood. Hopefully this is just a phase, but when everyone's in such a hurry all the time, growing up seems to be no different.