suomi

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Two worrying phenomena have been occurring in recent times: the adultization of children and the infantilization of adults. By definition, child adultization is the anticipation of stages due to the overload of tasks, such as starting school life at an increasingly earlier age, countless complementary courses and a series of activities that leave no room for the child to actually be a child.

As a result, playing and having fun are practically not part of the routine of most children, but it doesn’t stop there. Now, little ones have one more task: to make their own decisions as if they had the structure, knowledge and conditions to do so, without the guidance and consent of their parents or guardians.

While adults overwhelm and confuse children, they live as if they were in the middle of childhood: increasingly immature, emotionally weak, irresponsible and unable to deal with any trace of frustration.

Common sense seems to no longer be part of adult life, as even the obvious needs to be explained and, even so, it is refuted and disregarded. Values are ridiculed, while ridiculous attitudes are valued. This is another step towards an uncertain and unprecedented future in the entire history of Humanity.

* By Patricia Lages, journalist and writer