In the digital age children have been forced out of a bubble of simplicity, comfort, and joy into taking on the unnecessary and often damaging consequences of growing up too fast. 

Childhood is a crucial stage in overall development that encompasses learning, communicating, and exploring who you are in life. By skipping through this stage, kids are forced to face brutal stress and comparison, no longer seeking out the joy of being a kid.

This false narrative of an “aesthetic” adulthood, consisting of perfection and limitless freedom has been propelled by social media platforms like Instagram and Tiktok. This contributes to dissatisfaction in life, pushing consumers to engage in dangerous behaviors.

It is a universal desire to relive those years where life was simple and joyful. This is more than just a feeling of nostalgia, we are a generation of kids that were forced to grow up too fast.

This pressure to grow up isn’t new, but has been a longstanding phenomena that has been fueled by the media and social media that have continued to push for the acceleration in childhood. This “romanticization” of becoming an adult is an unrealistic version of what it truly means to grow up.

The rise in adultification is a deliberate way to target and exploit children in order to reap the benefits and build deeper levels of engagement that will push kids to take on unhealthy behaviors contributing to detrimental effects on their overall development.

“We know that sex sells. We know that if you sexualize yourself, that increases how much you get pushed out into the algorithms, so you are incentivized to engage in more adult activities,” states Ms. Ngo, our psychologist here at Millikan. 

The problem isn’t maturing, but the constant pressure from outside forces like social media, shows, and people who market unhealthy ideologies on the youth. The stark reality of growing up is that we’ll never be those kids again. So the question is why can’t we cherish our childhood?