03-05-2025
Netflix hit ‘Adolescence' poses heart-breaking question – are children growing up too fast?
In her latest Mind Matters column child and adolescent psychotherapist Nettie Bowie discusses how to give children the space and freedom to simply be children
Wexford People
It seems as if childhood years are shrinking as children are being sucked into adulthood too quickly. Their brains are being forced to jump through developmental stages, bypassing natural development and forced into an adult way of thinking much too early.
Children have shared with me their fears of becoming a teenager and teens say how they feel pressurised into doing or being something they're not ready for. I've heard them say things like, 'It seems like only last week that I was happy playing with my dolls, now I have to go along with what others are doing, and I hate it' or 'I don't want to get caught up in all the drama, I just want to enjoy my sport.' And for one teen: 'I wish I could tell my parents what's happening, but they'll just take my phone away.'
