ADULT VS. CHILD

In this corner ... an adult, struggling through life, trying to find happiness. And in this corner ... a giggling child, enjoying life to it's fullest. We who call ourselves adults, are we experiencing our second childhood or are we just acting childish? Is there a difference?

We obviously have differences when it comes to rules for adults and children. We can't have three year olds driving around in cars; they don't have the mental capacity at that age to realize it's not all fun and games and they shouldn't play bumper cars with daddy's second-childhood sports car. But should all the rules be different?

When our children are in pre-school or starting out in elementary school we teach them to "play nice." "No hitting." "Share." "Take your turn." "Make new friends." "Say you're sorry." And when they get old enough to understand we say, "Don't cheat." But something happens by the time they're in middle school/high school or at least by the time they're in college. The rules change. In sports we may say, "Kick their tail!" (or we use a more base remark). In business some teach, "Hit 'em where it hurts" or "Take away their market 'share'." Still others grow cynical as they get older and preach it's all about numero uno. If a friend's marriage ends in divorce, the jilted may say, "I'll never forgive him/her!" As their friend do we pat them on the hand and tell them they're right; they shouldn't? Maybe our friend was the one who 'cheated' on their spouse and when we found out about it we gave them a little wink and a nudge? "It's OK as long as you get away with it"?

Why should children be taught to play nice if all we're going to do to them when they grow up is to unteach them? Three year olds shouldn't drive because they don't have the mental capacity to handle it. Can children not understand kicking some tail? Of course they can, it's human nature. So that's not the reason we don't start young to teach them to play dirty. We start them out young to teach them to rise above their human nature; to be better than just giving in to animalistic impulses. So why change the lessons when they get older?

Here's another example of a double standard: alcohol. Oh, but you say, children can't 'handle it'. Yeah, as though the laws of physics stop working for 'adults'. Sure, children's bodies are smaller and more susceptible to alcohol's influence, but how many 'adults' can't 'handle it'? How many drunken driving deaths are there? How many abused family members are there? How many shattered homes, lost jobs, lost chastity, lost souls are there from 'adults' who thought they could 'handle it'? Children always think they're invincible and it's not going to happen to them. Adults are supposed to be more mature. What about 'adult' entertainment? "I'll give you some money if you show me yours" sounds like something an immature child would say, not someone who's supposed to be grown up.

There's a difference between being childlike and childish. Unfortunately in today's society we label too many things 'adult' when all they really are are childish. Maybe it's time we all went through our second childhood and took on childlike qualities such as "Play nice." "No hitting." "Share." "Take your turn." "Make new friends." "Say you're sorry." "Don't cheat." Then maybe we can all enjoy childlike laughter again.