Dear Mr. Morton- My daughter was playing with her friend. They’re both age 5. I was startled when her friend began acting out Barbie and Ken dolls kissing, then playing out a fight and divorce between them. What’s happening to childhood and do you think kids are growing up too fast?- Anonymous, Ohio.
Dear Anonymous- I learned more from being a child in the unhurried 50’s than in taking graduate child development courses. So, as a one-time tot myself, I wave my magic wand to reestablish eight standards that made past childhoods happy:
(1) Declare childhood a “Golden Period” where freedom is not permitted to be seized by the tensions of the adult world.
(2) Teach children how to create something from nothing instead of getting expensive playthings that do everything for them. Playing hide-and-seek, statue, or kick-the-can will once again brighten an entire afternoon.
(3) Allow tomboys to emerge once again.
(4) Empower children to feel genuine and not as if they’re on a stage all the time. How? By making many of today’s Baby Boomer parents, the most educated and richest parents in history, less narcissistic. Then, they may stop using their children’s achievements as another manifesto that they can afford the good life. Dear Anonymous- I learned more from being a child in the unhurried 50’s than in taking graduate child development courses. So, as a one-time tot myself, I wave my magic wand to reestablish eight standards that made past childhoods happy:
(1) Declare childhood a “Golden Period” where freedom is not permitted to be seized by the tensions of the adult world.
(2) Teach children how to create something from nothing instead of getting expensive playthings that do everything for them. Playing hide-and-seek, statue, or kick-the-can will once again brighten an entire afternoon.
(3) Allow tomboys to emerge once again.
(5) Make parents appreciate that a small child is more captivated by a tiny, green worm that by an elaborate play set dad erected in the backyard.
(6) Require parents to schedule ample time in their week-at-a-glance calendars for kids to run barefoot, pick dandelions, climb trees, and to catch crayfish or frogs in the local creek.
(7) Finance schools so they’re the most tantalizing, safe, and comforting places for children to set foot in, especially those in lower income areas.
(8) Furnish kids with Good Samaritan heroes/heroines like the Lone Ranger, Jackie Robison, Roy Rogers and Merryl David.
As a former kid myself, I now wave my magic wand to insure childhood flourishes.
Robert Morton, M.Ed., Ed.S. has retired from his positions of School Psychologist and adjunct professor in the School of Leadership & Policy Studies at Bowling Green State Univeristy. A portion of Ad sale revenue from this site is donated to Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. Questions? Comment? Concerns about family, parenting, educational or personal concerns? Contact him on the secure Bpath Mail Form. 
