Our Children's childhood is slipping away.

I'm afraid that our children are, in an attempt to be older faster, forsaking their childhoods in favor of what they consider to be more appealing and adult behaviors.  In the age of facebook, cellphones, texting and dating, children are no longer pursuing the activities that are age appropriate.  Instead of playing outside, doing craft projects, reading books and playing sports, many children have settled into a routine consisting mostly of Facebook posts, hundreds of texts, and endless mind-rotting reality tv shows that were never meant for their age group.  As a result, they are adopting behaviors that were never meant to be adopted by children their age. 

At a recent evening activity at my daughter's school, I was astounded at the number of ten and eleven year old kids  that sat in the corners of the room, not actually communicating with the kids around them, but with their noses stuck in their cell phones.  Instead of relishing the opportunity to physically hang out with friends, play games, and have a great time, they decided that it was more important to text people that weren't there, or surf the web for more brainless stimulation.  Sadly, many of my daughter's friends or former ones can no longer carry out a real conversation unless it is conducted via facebook or cell phone text.  At a recent activity, another child told my daughter "I feel sorry for you because you don't have a cell phone".  My daughter handled it beautifully, simply replying "Don't feel sorry for me, I don't need or want a cell phone".  Good for her.  I don't dislike cell phones.  What I do dislike is the flood of bad behavior that having one has seemed to cause in our culture. 

Boys and girls my daughter's age are now "dating".  I would be perfectly willing to write this off as innocent behavior, except for the bad behavior that has sprung up out of it.  While still in the minority, the fifth grade students that are "dating", are now trying to make the kids that are not dating feel like there is something wrong with them.  Along with dating has come gossiping about who is dating whom, inappropriate physical contact, and suggestive comments being passed between students.  My daughter was recently called a "Fag" at school by another student that had heard thru the grapevine that my daughter had been gossiping about her.  This same student called another female student a "whore" for a similar perceived offense. I refuse to believe that these two slurs are a normal part of a fifth grader's vocabulary.  In their attempts to be more grown up, some of our children are hanging out with kids older than they are, and adopting their language and behaviors, good or bad, in order to appear cool in the eyes of the older kids.  What starts today as merely bad language can quite possibly lead to alcohol and drug consumption, sexual activity at a young age, and a host of other bad behaviors.

As a parent, it is my responsibility to monitor my children and their activities and behaviors.  It is also my responsibility to teach them good values, and to teach them to become individuals with their own thoughts and opinions, in the hope that they will form their own opinions instead of just following those of the currently popular crowd.  Sadly, there are parents out there that aren't as vigilant with their children.

I am constantly telling my children that they should cherish their childhood years, because they don't last forever.  They have plenty of time to grow up and take on more adult behavior when they are actually older and more adult.  I hope that they are listening.