Why do we give up the things of youth?

Question

There is a huge divide between what is considered to be the adult world and the child world. Within the two worlds there are very different things.

The adult world:
Sex.
Violence.
Drugs.
Danger.
War.

The Child world:
Carefreeness.
Lack of heavy responsibility.
Easy 'Carefree' Fun.
Learning new things.

Why is that when someone grows to a certain age they are expected to relinquish the things of youth as if they are something that has grown to small or undesirable. Then after having freely given it up they bemoan their existence, "why is life so hard?" for example.

Things like fairy tales for example with happy endings are considered children’s stuff and 'not fit' for the adult world. Yet buried deep within these stories is a wisdom for ages past, and yet the adult world ignores this because it comes in a package that is for children.

Why does the adult world turn it's back on these things from youth? Why does it treat them as if they are something to be discarded with the of the rubbish?

Please explain why you think this is.

(P.S. Please focus on the intent of the question and not the question itself.)

Answer 1

I don't think we do abandon those things. We have to give up our light burden load because as adults we have to accept more responsibilities as we are increasingly required to rely upon ourselves for our survival rather than our parents (we have to work for a living, pay rent/mortgage, feed ourselves, etc.). We also pursue things that will offer us fulfillment in our adult lives, but also involve new responsibilities (like careers, marriage, children, higher education, etc.).

As for fairy tales, we abandon them because they are not only meant to be lessons, but also entertainment. Stories this simplistic don't entertain adults, who are smarter and need more intellectual stimulus to be entertained. Many a movie and novel has a happy ending, but there are also those that have unhappy ones. There are lessons and entertainment in both, so in our adult lives we seek both. As children we are not yet ready to learn the hard lessons, and children cannot be as happy if forced to learn those too early.

I do agree with your basic sentiment, though, that adults do tend to complain about how serious and austere life is when its being so is largely a product of their own choices. We can all choose to laugh more, to dance like idiots in our living rooms, to eat ice cream for dinner sometimes, to watch the cartoons we watched as kids on Saturday morning, to stop and smell the roses and admire the pretty things that used to fascinate us as kids. There is a balance in adulthood, but I don't think anyone really abandons childhood pleasures unless they choose to- they just have to adjust them to fit an adult life and an adult mind.

Answer 2

as a child I was molested and was doing drugs by the age of eight, I pretty much took care of my self as a teen I ended up taking care of all my friends because by the time I turned 16 I didn't need the drugs and alcohol anymore, So I drove every one else around. Now as an adult I like to watch cartoons and hang out with my friends, Maybe I am doing things backwards?

Answer 3

The answer would be.. not telling the kids a bunch of BS.. the young mind is like a sponge.. and so we "grow up" living a lie..

The real world is very different.. but.. things will never change.. too much greed.. and thus the need to control the population via nonsense.. too bad..

Answer 4

It's only perception my friend. When my wife wants to watch Shrek, we watch it and enjoy it. But, at the hardware store, I walk around touching and looking at complicated tools and machinery like it was mine and I know everything about it.

Growing up to be an adult is all about what you learned or perceived as a child. The responsibility of life is bought, we do it to ourselves. No one pushes us into accountability, we do it all alone, usually so we can have the things we dreamed about as children... Having a car, ring a bell? How about having sex! Ever think of that as a kid?

You can be what you want, we are what we percieve we are supposed to be or what we dreamed we could do, and of course, it all costs. We have to buy it.

Answer 5

I think it's more that they give us up. We find ourselves with a burden of responsibility by virtue of being grown-ups, having to earn our living and look after our children, so suddenly it's not so easy to have fun when we have these things on our minds. I don't think we give up learning new things, it's just that we don't have as much time in which to learn them, and when you're tired after a day's work it's much easier to relax with the old, familiar pastimes like TV or a good book.

Answer 6

it's called the burden or responsibility...

the child's world is far from carefree. ever have a bully beat the cr@p out of you every day at school? ever been called names like loser and weirdo? ever been excluded from a group that you wanted to be so much a part of?

lack of heavy responsibility? why do kids seem to not have this? because it's their parents working 20 hour days to put the f-u-cking computer in front of their face (y'know the one youre using right now), pay for the internet connection, pay for the electricity bill, pay the mortgage, pay the property taxes, pay grocery bills, pay the credit card bill filled with clothes purchase, gas to fill the car to drive the brats to soccer practice, little league and ballet, ipod, gameboy, psp, ps3, big flat screen and the endless list continues.

easy carefree fun? "FUN" takes money and one has to earn the money...and it takes RESPONSIBILITY to earn moeny. one is 'carefree' because someone else is doing the worrying for you.

learning new things: yes, it would be great if we could all learn new things but trying doing that after working ten hours at a horrifically stressful job with the boss barking down the back of your neck and threatening to fire you everyday. you come home to a filthy house with toys, shoes and food all over the place. the mother is STRESSED coming home from work to this mess (from 'carefree' fun of the kids) and is yelling at you to get off your lazy AS$ to do something around the house.

life is HARD because it is. anyone else telling you that it isnt is either ret@rded or trying to sell you something. no one gives up the innocence of 'childhood we grow up, become mature and accept the responsibility of being the next to take care of the world...good or bad.

fairy tales are just that...theyre FAIRY TALES!!! they have no parallel to real life to NOBODY! think that the princess is happy once she finds prince charming and they live happily ever after? obviously, you are not remotely observant in the real world. everyone thought that 'princess' grace was going to be uber happy once she married price rainier. she just grew fat and old...depressed and got killed in a car accident.

marilyn monroe...loved by countless millions...most likely commited suicide. princess diana...the most recent in history...had a fairy tale romance and a dream wedding. became extremely depressed, got divorced and was killed with some really hairy guy while be chased by photographers.

the books conveniently end with 'and they lived happily ever after'. what a total cop out. tell me fairy tale book...HOW DID THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER? did they have a direct line to oprah, dr phil and sponge bob?

i could go on and on...but i think you need to mature a little rather than living in your parents home, eating their food, having them buy your clothes etc etc etc. here is a tip: go out and make your own life and see how 'child like' you remain!

Answer 7

We can never cast an overall picture of childhood as you refer to it. It depends on whom you are born to and under what circumstances you are living. Not every child lives or has a wonderful life.

Our circumstances follow us into adulthood where the circumstances of life changes our prospective due to what we encounter and how we deal with it.