So I’ve been thinking for a while about this subject, and I finally decided to make a post about this some time after I saw a YouTuber say what I put on the title of this post.
Thing is, I’ve noticed that very often young people and especially kids are treated as lesser beings, like if they were not humans beings with problems and lives of their own but just an annoyance that people have to keep up with.
I remember when I was a kid and I wanted to cross a zebra crossing cars would just pass by without stopping more often than not. Now that I’m an adult they stop pretty much every time. I suspect it was because they didn’t want to stop for someone they consider to be lesser than them.
Also, a lot of people seem to think that being a kid means that you just play videogames or whatever all day, but don’t these people remember when they were kids? I sure do. Going to school has been the worst thing I’ve ever had to endure. The only difference with having a job is that you don’t get paid.
Other people have commented on the more important points, so I’m gonna add to this one
The biggest reason a lot of kids do nothing but “stay home and play video games all day” is because they literally have nothing better to do, the car-dependent suburbs that are very common in North America (which are often considered “great places to raise children”) leave kids with an inability to do anything (such as hang out with friends or go to public places) without their parents driving them around, so if their parents won’t/can’t do that then there’s nothing really else to do than just stay home, so the kids can’t have any real “freedom” until they become old enough to drive
As well, kids often aren’t even allowed to be given any level of independence these days, with things as simple as “a kid being outside on their own” (even just within their family’s property, if the neighbors are being narcs) being something that can be reported to the police and the parents potentially losing custody over
It’s okay though, we’re totally not a dystopian police state, right? /s
I think this video has good info on this
For real. Growing up in a suburb, the only things that were in walking distance were houses, a park, houses, a convenience store, houses, houses, and warehouses. And our town had that neighborhood watch thing where cops would basically arrest you for being young and outside past curfew.
I dunno what people expect kids to do besides play video games and watch YouTube/twitch/whatever. There’s really not much else to spend time on.
I think car dependency is a big reason but also parents not being involved enough. They also allow the technology to raise the children which is a separate issue altogether. I think it’s used as a cop out to attack children but the tech dependency isn’t the root of anti child discrimination
I feel like some of this points apply, to an extent, to adults. Not only is the lack of public spaces pervasive for both adults and children, but the risk of being outside is as well, with the giant metal boxes flying around everywhere at speeds capable of instantly killing us, and “loitering” being a crime.
Also kids play videogames and browse the internet all day because parents give them no attention.
This is something i recently realized about my childhood and a posible reason as why i have a bad relation with my parents.