Belkin, Lisa. “Growing Up Too Fast?” Motherlode Blog. New York Times, 4 May 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
In Belkin’s article, she discusses two questions: How young is too young? When did childhood become something to leapfrog through? She talks about how parents are messing up in not letting children be children and at the same time, when the moment comes for them to transition, they hold them back. It’s an issue that parents don’t even realize they are helping to cause it. This article gave a good perspective the second part of my research- adolescents.
Casandra. “Is the Culture Forcing Children to Grow up Too Fast?” The Better Mom. The Better Mom, 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
Cassandra discusses how children in modern day society are growing up to fast and Culture hides it and passes it off with, “Oh, well, things have changed since I was a kid!” She talks about how children are being pushed into a category the marketing world coined “tweens” as young as age eight. This not just hurting the pockets of parents, but children’s development as well. It teaches children it’s normal to need to consume and become what you buy. This, I believe, is very true in a time where we are a society of consumerism.
Dvorak, Petula. “Are Kids Growing up Too Fast?” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
Petula explains how Technology, parental pressure and a changing global marketplace are helping to kill whatever remained of childhood. Petula discusses how children and not only growing up faster mentally, but physically. She compares the children from the past to that of the present. I, myself, am not that far in generations from the kids of the today and you can see the difference even from my time.
Elkind, David. The Hurried Child: Growing up Too Fast Too Soon (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Perseus. 2001.
Elkind discusses parental pressures and the harms that it may do for rushed children. He points out that the three main factors pushing children to grow up are parents, schools, and the media. Parents need to be active in their children’s life and let them be children. He also discusses his coined term: the hurried child syndrome. Before this, I had never heard of this term, but it was really interesting. I’ve seen it occur many times with friends and family members.
Helft, Miguel and Matt Richtel. “Facebook Users Who Are Under Age Raise Concerns.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
Helft and Ritchel discuss how the fake ID has gone digital, and spread to elementary school. Popular sites usually require users to be 13 or older and parents are helping younger children to set up accounts. They often see it as a minor fib that is necessary to let their children participate in the digital world. I thought this article was very appropriate seeing as since everything is going viral with the advancement of technologies. This shows that even “real world” problem will become a part of the virtual world.
Lagorio, Christine. “Resources: Marketing To Kids.” CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.
Lagorio discusses how companies spend a great amount of money on advertising for children today. He points out the methods of advertisers who know that in reaching the children they reach the parents. He also tells of the effects of advertising on children. He offers possible steps parents should take in restricting children’s media time. I like that this article went along with a previous one I found of marketing and consumerism and how it has affected children.
Rosenfiel, Alvin. “Taking it Easy: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap and the Risks of the Over-Scheduled Child.” Hyper-Parenting, 3 May 2008. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.
Rosenfield talks about the dangers of a parent over-scheduling or over-parenting their children. Hyper-parenting is not only bad for the children, but for the parents as well; making them anxious and telling them that if they really loved their kids they would enroll them in innumerable activities. He discusses how even children aren’t in line with their parents involving them in particular clubs, sports etc. 78% of young children would rather play for a losing team than warm the bench for one that wins. This article really helped in getting a parents perspective on why they do the things they do.