Just a month ago, I stood at a Kohl’s register ready to check out, when I saw a little girl standing with her mother in line behind me. While she was clearly less than half my age, she had what was very obviouslyover twice the amount of products in her hands, waiting to be purchased. And, stuffed in her pocket (because her hands were occupied at the moment), was a cell phone that looked nicer than mine. Then again, it’s not too hard to beat out a phone that’s missing its front flap, but regardless, it was not even how high-quality it was but rather the fact she had one in the first place.

I know I’m not the only who feels this way, but it needs to be said: kids nowadays are growing up way too fast.

I don’t like seeing a 6-year-old looking better than me, but it’s happening more and more often with every passing day. It seems that society is indoctrinating increasingly younger individuals into feeling the necessity to act and dress increasingly older.

Not only does this take from what I consider to be important, innocent aspects of childhood, but it teaches children to value all of the wrong things. Clothing, maturity and the latest gadgets all have their places, but even teenagers have trouble sorting out these priorities. How can anyone reasonably expect someone who doesn’t even know their multiplication tables to handle such things?

In regards to cell phones – there is no exact science for determining how old someone should be before receiving one. It changes for every family. Personally, I had to wait until my sophomore year to get my first one.

I have friends who had them in eighth grade. It’s one of those things that each family has to discuss first, then determine the right timing for. However, when I see kids as young as the one I saw in Kohl’s with one, I can tell that very little thought was put into the decision to grant them that privilege. Next to no one at such a young age truly understands the enormous responsibility and liability that comes with having a phone. This goes for so much more than cell phones though.

Parents and older siblings alike often underestimate the “absorption” of youth. They soak in everything they see, taste, hear, feel. If around profanities, they will repeat them.

If taught the importance of a cell phone, they will beg for one. But, they are not at all to blame for their generation’s accelerated aging. I’m simply awaiting the day my first grade neighbor backs out of the driveway in her parents’ car.