Kids these days?

Question

Okay does anyone think kids these days are growing up rather fast? Puberty can begin as early as 8 years old in girls. In additon, i seem more children nowadays talking about their boyfriends, wearing makeup, wearing rather feeling clothes. I see some children boss their mothers and fathers around in stores. Does anyone else notice this? Is this normal?

Answer 1

I notice, I dont think its normal, its very disturbing. I think it has to do with our culture changing so much, and all the chemicals they use in dairy products, hormones and such. It seems the parents need to step up and start teaching morals instead of letting our kids be formed by whats on TV at the moment.

Answer 2

One of the main reasons children are hitting puberty earlier is because of diet, not necessarily hormones, etc. (Not saying those may not play a role). Children have better diets in general and that has brought down the age of puberty over the past fifty years, but the biggest problem now is a matter of body fat. Children now have more fat on their bodies than they used to, and that causes the body to start puberty earlier. There have been numberous studies that have shown links between children being overweight and body fat and the influence on early puberty. I'll put a link to one in references in case people want to read more about it. If we really want our children to stop starting puberty so young, then we need to be more careful about what we're feeding them.

I think it's important to note, however, that just because a child starts puberty early, they still have the emotional mentality of an eight year old. Early physical development does not equate with early mental or emotional development, and it's a mistake that alot of people make to treat this children as older because they look older. I think most of us can imagine that this can cause problems with boys, too, when young girls are maturing earlier.

In any case, I think children definitely seem to be "growing up" faster. Like you said, small children wearing makeup, or having boyfriends, etc. I know personally I don't understand parents dressing their children in "sexy" clothes, especially the pre-teen girls.

It seems that there is a lack of respect as well. I worked in a kindergarten class once where I had a six-year-old boy being extremely rude to his mother when she came to pick him up. His mother sat back and took it. I turned around and gave him an, "Is that how we talk to our mother!?" lecture and made him apologize. In some cases, like that one, I imagine that the father talked to the mom that way and the kid picked it up from him. In other cases, parents just aren't stopping it from happening. Alot of parents just take the direspect (or yell, which is never going to help matters). When children see that they can get away with it, they keep doing it.

There are so many reasons I could list as to why I think this is happening. I don't think, however, that it's normal. Children SHOULD respect others. Not just adults, but other children as well. They should be taught that other people have an inherent value and deserve respect. How can we expect our children to turn out as respectful adults when they're never expected to be respectful as children?

Courtesy and kindness and politeness are all important, and we should be making it a point to teach them to our children from a very young age. There is no reason why a three year old can't know how to say "please" and "thank you." There is also no reason why a six year old should be telling mom what they're going to do. Parents are the boss, and when the kids start taking over the family all kinds of problems start to show up, beyond the obvious. How can a child really feel safe and secure when they're controlling their parents? etc. There are some great family systems psychology theories about this, if anyone's interested in learning more.

In any case, we need to do more to raise socially responsible children, but also need to do more to make sure we're not demonstrating the same sort of behavior. How many parents do you know who will yell at their children for being disrespectful, but then talk trash about their boss in front of their child? Or the child's grandparents even? Children imitate what they see. We need to also take a nice long look at ourselves and what we're showing our kids.

Answer 3

I've been lucky, my 14 year old "matured" at 12 just as I did. She wasn't allowed to wear makeup until she was 13, she wasn't allowed a cell phone until recently (but has had it taken away as a punishment) and she is not allowed to play any video games and has VERY limited time on the computer. Technology has made us lazy and has made parents lazy. So many families have 2 working parents and the kids are either left to fend for themselves or are pawned off on family or daycares to raise them. What is so different between the generations now and those before us? DISCIPLINE! Consequences! It does fall back on the parents, every bit of it! It is not normal for children to think that they have any authority over adults and it is not normal for parents to allow it. I'm guessing these are the same parents that were spanked as children and claim it was "abusive" and have now sworn to never spank their kids. I was abused, not spanked, ABUSED. There is a huge difference between the way I paddle my child with a wooden paddle (like the ones we USED to have in school) and the way I was beaten out of anger or when mom was in a drunken stooper. These are the parents that have NO IDEA what real abuse is like so they equate spanking with abuse. It's sickening. Also, spanking does NOT cause a child to FEAR the PARENT, it causes them to FEAR the consequences of their actions.

People, wake up out there! Do you REALLY want these spoiled brats that have NO RESPECT for their elders in charge of our Social Security when we are old? Do you really want them running our country? OMG!

Answer 4

I know exactly what you are saying. I think this behavior falls back to parenting. As far as bossing the parents around. People have forgotten how to discipline their children. Which these days if you yell to loudly at a child its considered child abuse. You have to teach your children respect before they can give it to anyone.

People are wanting there children to grow up too quickly. I say let them be kids and act like kids do. Dont try to push them to being big boys & girls before there time. Alot of kids behavior is from their peers to. Peer pressure its been around forever. Always wanting to fit in and do what the other kids do.

Answer 5

The reason for children maturing faster? RBGH, it's an additive found in milk and diary products. RBGH or Recombinate Bovine Growth Hormone is a chemical injected into cow to make them produce more milk, it also makes the milk watery, there are links to cancer and children maturing faster with this additive. There are ways to avoid this such as purchasing milk that is hormone and chemical free, I used to sell RBGH free dairy products. That is the sole reason for puberty begining early, as far as the attitude of kids today, THE PARENTS!

Answer 6

Kids these days are out of control. Of course this is what happens when children aren't hit at home by their parents or at school by their teachers. We need to go back to the old days when you could hit a kid in school for talking back to their teacher. Maybe these kids would learn how to respect their elders. I never understood why they took paddling out of schools anyway. A lot of these kids need it now a days otherwise this country will fail. Kids need to be seen and not heard.

Answer 7

I teach 3rd grade so I am around 8-9 year olds all day. I have girls in my class who wear bras (and they definitely need them!) I have confiscated make up from girls and I always hear about boyfriends & girlfriends. It's scary!

Answer 8

kids are hitting puberty earlier due to the man injected hormones in meats and dairy. Such as the ingredients they push in school luches. Is this normal, not in my house honey.

Answer 9

whatever, its the parents.. i respect my mom.. im only 16 and i didn't start wearing nail polish until i was 13 let alone make up...plus if i tried to boss my mom around in a store i would get smack in the back of my head...i bet that's what your parents and grand parents probably thought during your time too..

Answer 10

sweetie life as we knew it has changed.It is all moving so fast now one day you give birth to them then it seems like a few months later they are teenagers, if only we could slow it back down to the good old day's