Does society force kids to grow up?

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Lets see, there are no Easter Egg hunts for adults or for teens, restaurants have kids menus for kids up to age 10 or 12, in London, they have playgrounds but they have age restrictions for who can play on it, in the malls here with play areas, they have age restrictions or height restrictions but there are no play areas for adults, McDonalds has age restrictions.


Anyone else think it seems like society forces kids to grow up because they cater the youngsters only? Because of that it made me not want to grow up when I was a kid because I was starting to get too old for things. But I learned how to keep myself busy in sit down restaurants, bring a book to read or a game to play, music to listen to. Problem solved. And who needs play areas? I can live without them. Problem solved. In London I would rather spend my time touring the city than wasting my time at a playground I waste some of my free time doing things. Problem solved.


Back in April I had fun doing Easter Egg hunting because a guy in the AB/DL community held one for us adults in a park. I haven't had that much fun in years. All grown ups need to do a hold a Easter Egg hunt for other adults, problem solved. Also adults can have them at their own house, problem solved.

I am taller than average, so after the age of about 9 I was normally too big for play areas that were meant to be for kids under 12. But I went in anyway, their stupid assumption-based rules ain't gonna stop me and kids like me from having fun. Being tall sucks.

That might not have been 100% on-topic, but hey.

I don't act my age at all, in fact I often feel and act like an adult. I hate acting like a little kid - a lot of people my age like it, but I just feel like an idiot. People say I'm too serious, which is probably true.

There are practical reasons for certain age restrictions on play grounds, like the size of certain objects in the playground.

But to play again is a lot of fun. I am doing volunteer work with kids and the good part is, I get to play along with the games! That way I get my dosage of being a child on a regular basis.

For some kids it is good to be forced to grow up and for some adults too. And I think society pushes children to grow up, but I do not think it is a bad thing.

Sometimes I wished to be a child again, but then I think back of the troubles I had back then. There is the danger of idealizing childhood.

But as I said, it is fun to be like a child sometimes and a place for that would be nice.

Yeah soceity forces kids to grow up waaaaay before their time, it's no wonder why there is such a high rate of teenage pregnancy and binge drinking in the UK (from people under the age of 18 ).

Without thinking about it too deeply, I would say the answer is yes and no - kinda depends on your definition of a kid.

Society these days tends to encourage kids of 9, 10 and 11 to act like adolescents ... and then enourages them to continue acting like adolescents into their late 20s.

Most kids want to grow up as fast as possible. They may consider it a privilege to not have to order from the kid's menu and they consider themselves too 'mature' to play in the playground at McDonald’s.. etc. They want to wear makeup and drive cars and have sex and act like grown ups. Society does not make many things that cater to the 'big kids' because there aren't very many.

I totally agree with you, though, that little kids get all the good stuff. As a child, I didn't want to grow up either I would totally still go into the playground at McDonalds if I wouldn't get in trouble for it. I have often wanted to start a soft play place for adults.. but I doubt I'd get much patronage

I also agree with what flipflopjenkins said but I think that is a slightly different matter that has to do with responsibility and consequenses. Both of which are rather lacking in many instances.

I like playing but it wouldn't be safe for me to be running around on some play area with 5 year olds who are less than half my size. Plus the play areas often aren't designed for heavier people. You could break stuff.

Kids gotta grow up some day, the question is are they being forced to grow up too soon? I think so tbh. But not much we can realistically do about it.

And you can bring your own colouring things. I buy toys for myself all the time.

I knoooow, it really sucks. I'm especially sad there is no summer camp for grownups.

I think one problem is that the kind of people who become parents are different from the kind of people who like to do kid stuff, and the parents won't understand the other people and won't want them playing in the same place as their kids.

I think that kids are actually entering puberty years earlier than they did 100 years ago.

But here's the rub:
Magazines and movies and TV tell 10 year old girls about makeup and sex. Think Bratz dolls and Barbie.

Yet at the same time "society" treats you as a child until you have finished your "education" at the age of 25 or more.

Think of a 23 year old man who still has to ask his father "Can I borrow the car and can I have some money because I want to take a girl to the movies"?

That is degrading.

Actually, people 100 years ago entered puberty 100 years ago.

Everyone keeps telling me to act my age. I love acting like a kid and the thought of being old makes me feel bad. I believe we should act how we feel. That way we can express ourselves more easily and people can understand eachother

Growth normally happens naturally. I would say something more like conditioning to how you're apparently supposed to be, which includes how someone your age is supposed to be.

I was gonna start a topic on how recently, I went to this thing at the Tate Modern which was like a playground, but with no age restrictions and the dimensions of it were such that adults could play on it. The best bit was this big cylinder which you could get inside and roll about And there were slides, and stuff to climb on, and stuff to balence on. It was great.

I really want to find a grown-up playground now. I don't think play should be limited to kids. My psychotherapist doesn't either. I don't think I'm unusual. I think I actually stopped going in playgrounds because I was physically too big (I don't like very small spaces, which limited my enjoyment of the Tate Modern thing too), rather than because society pressured me to act older, which is why I stopped doing other kid things.

I think most growing up is because of pressure from society. There is nothing stopping grown ups making their own easter egg hunts, or playing hide and seek, other than that most believe it is shameful to behave like a child. I am trying to get rid of this belief and enjoy myself.

I think this is maybe one of the main reasons people have kids. If you have kids, you play kids games with your kids.

There's a theme park somewhere in England (I forget where) called Twin Lakes. The actual theme park's crap, but there's a gigantic indoor play area that adults are allowed into as well, it's totally awesome.