Childhood now ends at 11, parents say

More than half of parents believe that childhood is now over by the age of 11, according to a survey.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/03/nkids103.xml


The poll shows that children, desperate to keep up with their peers, are forcing parents to authorise freedoms that belie their years, in contrast with the traditional upbringings experienced by their mothers and fathers.

Teenagers are increasingly being allowed to drink alcohol, stay out late and sleep over at their boyfriend or girlfriend's house, according to the survey for Random House Children's Books.

But many adults feel that parents are wrong to succumb and that youngsters grow up alarmingly quickly, a view shared by Dame Jacqueline Wilson, the former children's laureate and author.

Dame Jacqueline, 62, said that young girls should not wear fashionable or revealing clothes, and should not be ashamed to want to play with dolls.

"I know girls are desperate to look cool but I wish they didn't all want to wear very high heels and inappropriately tight trendy clothes," she said.

"I'm not saying all under-12s should wear puff-sleeved dresses and little white socks and tee-strap sandals but at least you could run about and play properly in them. And it seems so sad that girls feel embarrassed if they want to play with dolls past the age of six."

The survey of 1,170 parents with children under 18 blames parents for cutting short their sons' and daughters' childhoods by buckling to "pester pressure".

It shows a gulf between the parental code of a previous generation and the lenient attitudes of today's parents, with 55 per cent of parents saying that childhood is now "over by 11" - the age children move from primary to secondary school.

Almost three-quarters of parents allow their children to drink alcohol at home before they turn 18, and although Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, 45 per cent of parents permit their 16-year-old children to spend the night at a boyfriend's or girlfriend's house.

More than half of children aged 16 and under are allowed to stay out past 11pm, and half are permitted to dye their hair and wear make-up by the time they are 14.

Some 57 per cent of children are allowed to watch 18-certificate films before the age of 18, compared to 46 per cent a generation ago.

Three-quarters of parents admitted that their children had scant regard for their authority and regularly acted against their will, with 72 per cent admitting that they give their children a far easier ride than their parents did.

Eighty-three per cent blame higher disposable incomes for turning rare treats into everyday purchases.

Dame Jacqueline said: "Most of my fictional teenagers want to stay out as late as possible and drink alcohol but I'm actually pretty strict and old-fashioned."

She added: "I played all sorts of elaborate games with my dolls until I was at secondary school."

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

I think this is pretty accurate. Sad, but accurate.

My childhood STILL hasn't ended. And I'm having one hell of a time! Life is good! Why? Because I'm not a breeder!!!!! WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!

I look at it this way. Be responsible, hold a good job, pay your bills and obey the law. Everything else is just FUN! When I hear people saying, "Act your age, " I'm like WTF?

It's like these kids just appeared out of nowhere and there is no one in their lives to exert any sort of control, tragic.

Actually, this is just another story about breeders not doing anything to raise their children, and blaming society instead. After all, you can't possibly give children rules to live by, and enforce those rules. 11 year olds don't HAVE JOBS, thusly, they have NO MONEY of their own. Someone's buying them those trendy clothes, child sized high heels, baby lipstick, and all the other b.s. associated with the loss of childhood. My guess is the people what made them.

"It truly is the one commonality that every designation of humans you can think of has, there's at least one asshole."
--Me