I’m an uncle to three of the most adorable children the world has ever been graced with. The eldest, Lucas, is four years old; the middle, Laney, is two and a half years old; and last but not least, the youngest, Caleb, is eight months old. My name to them is ‘Uncle Poop’. Yes, it’s not the most glorious of titles, but I, nevertheless, wear it with pride. Don’t dare ask how I got the name.
My niece and nephews are fun-loving little tikes who enjoy nothing more than playing and enjoying the simplicity of childhood. Life holds little hardships for them. However, a nagging sense scratches at my mind every now and then that forces me to question how long that playful and childlike demeanor will persevere.
I see how the youth of the nation has changed since my tenure as a child/young teen, and at times, I’m quite appalled by what I see. “The times, they are a-changin,’’ as Bob Dylan put it. I can’t say I have much appreciation for how the times are altering and all it brings, as well as the effect it has upon America’s youth.
The major contributor to this drastic change is rooted in this exceeding sense — no, need — for young people to become ‘grown-up’. Sometimes, this need is forced upon the youth by family, by the media, by the state of the economy, and by the world, in general. In other instances, the need is adopted by the youth of their own accord. No matter the instance, what exactly is this state of being ‘grown-up’ that is supposed to be achieved? What entitles whether or not a young person is considered ’grown-up’ and mature? It seems to me that the words ‘mature’ and ‘superficial’ have become terribly blurred.
On any given day, I see countless young people doing, saying, and having things I could only imagine doing, saying, or having at their age. I’ve met pre-teens who say words that I hadn’t even heard of until high school, and many of them not something you’d say to your grandmother — hopefully. I’ve seen little girls who couldn’t possibly be any older than seven carrying purses that can easily make up half their body weight and wearing high-heeled shoes. I’ve seen young boys and girls who find looking away from their cell phone or iPod to be an actual act of pain and torment. I’ve met children with complexions akin to a polar bear’s, their hue brought on by a life spent indoors, glued to a computer or TV screen.
Whatever happened to those days when a child yearned for the freedoms that come with being a child? Whatever happened to playing and running and shouting just for the simple act of it? What happened to that dreadful sense of confinement brought on by four bleak walls, a sense that could only be quelled by going outside and searching for the next big adventure? I’ll tell you where they’ve gone: straight down the proverbial toilet. Cell phones, iPods, computers — all of which in my childhood were reserved for those who’d reached maturity —and countless other items have all but stripped away the greatest ‘app’ a youth has ever been gifted with: innocence.
For all the innocent and blissfully ignorant children still out there, keep that flame called adolescence burning for as long as you can. There will be far many more years yet to come in which you can be a ‘grown-up’. Enjoy childhood, and relish the fact that the obligations and adversities of adulthood have not yet come upon you. And for all those out there who know a young child or teenager, give them the chance to be children and give them the chance to be free.
We’ve all heard the saying “…and a child shall lead them.” The only question yet to be answered is this: where will we be led to? The way things are going, my best guess will be to either Jersey or the nearest mall.