I came across this article and I was very interested because it covers an issue that’s bothered me a lot as I’ve grown into a young adult and realized that to society, I am no longer “precious” in a way I was when I was a small child. Take this quote:
*“Nobody would have placed such a sign on a car if it were not already understood by society that the life of a human achieves its peak value at birth and declines thereafter. A toddler is almost as precious as a baby, but a teenager less so, and by the time that baby turns fifty, it seems that nobody cares much anymore if someone crashes into her car.”
*
Bingo! It seems like our society worships children as gods. Innocence, naivety and beauty are valued far more highly than wisdom, intelligence, compassion or courage. A baby is the ultimate peak of human existence, a small child is just a little bit behind. A preteen is mostly beyond criticism, the only exception being if they commit a heinous crime (think of the James Bulger case), in which they must be tried as adults and suffer a horrible death at the hands of vigilantes or their fellow inmates.
By the time a child reaches the age of 12 or 13 they are no longer an angelic being and are to be treated by the same standard as an adult. Maybe even a little bit harsher, because those damn teenagers and their scary rap music!
By the age of 25 a person gains a bit of respect for being “old school” but they’re still an adult and can take care of themselves, so it’s not really necessary to have any human compassion for them. Let em eat cake frankly.
Old people get a bit of lip service attention especially if they’re grandparents (again, their value is tied to children) or war veterans (because killing people is so awesome, dude! Especially if they’re brown and Muslim or commie). But nobody really cares if their benefits are cut, they can still work right?
Society’s worship of children has actually caused me to resent kids a bit. But I don’t really hold anything against them, I only blame their stupid parents for being so narcissistic and shallow that once they have the kids their spouses, their parents and their friends mean absolutely nothing to them.