School is always pushing us forward to the next best thing. When you’re in elementary school, it’s all about getting you ready for middle school. When you’re in middle school, it’s all about getting you ready for high school. In high school, all anyone cares about is getting you ready to go out into the real world and be an adult. This societal pressure to constantly be maturing takes away from kids actually getting to experience the times they’re in right now.
Being in high school isn’t easy. You have to navigate a new chapter in your life while also trying to figure out what you want your future to look like, not to mention the fast paced school days that cram work into each class period. There’s so much homework and extracurriculars that you have to plan around that at the end of the day. There’s no time to just hang out with friends or sit on the couch and watch TV. High school is pushing us to become adults instead of letting us be kids.
What society doesn’t realize is that it’s okay for a kid to be a kid. It doesn’t matter if they’re two or eighteen; life shouldn’t be all about looking forward to being “older” or getting to level up in life. Because while you’re busy thinking about your future, you let your present pass you by. And then when you are older, you realize that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Society almost romanticizes being older or more mature and having your life all figured out at such a young age. In 2023, news broke of children under the age of 14 going to Sephora and using high end makeup and skincare items. It seemed like the fast cosmetic trends of typically older kids and young adults were on kids’ unmonitored social media accounts. These videos were rapidly appearing on children’s media and acting as a social norm to these younger generations.Little kids shouldn’t have to hyperevolve or feel that buying mature products is normal for them to have. At that age, they should be riding their bikes and playing tag, not spending $35 on skincare to play “grown ups”.
The same goes for older kids in high school. We need time outside of school to experience life; we need to go outside during the school day; we need less homework; we need more positive reinforcement. Yet as we get older suddenly it’s not okay to do these things anymore. But the fact is this: we are not too old for these activities. We may be more mature than when we were younger, but the same little kid that used to play tag at recess is still inside of us screaming for a way out. Society just keeps that child locked away like a dirty secret that can never be exposed to the world.
So this is a warning to the generations that may be wanting to get to middle school, high school, or even to just make it to graduation. We need to slow down, take a break, and enjoy our childhoods. Because if we don’t, it will be taken away from us before we realize it’s gone.
A previous version of this story was published erroneously. The current version is correct.
