Do you think kids are maturing quicker nowadays?

Hello,

I am a TV Producer from a small independent TV production company, researching a sensitive documentary film about kids aged between 8 - 12 years old.

Research shows that children aged 8 - 12 years old are now more mature than kids of the same age were even five years ago.

Increasing maturity also leads to an increased interest in more 'adult' behaviour and pastimes.

* Do you worry about your kids acting like older teens?

* Are drinking and taking drugs a concern?

* What about girls dressing up too old for their years?

* Do you think it’s better to allow your children to act older than their age under your roof, rather than pretend it is not happening?

I would love to speak to parents about their experiences of 8 - 12 year olds today and their thoughts on how best to parent them.

Please do get in touch and let me know your thoughts. Please contact Nonie on 02072900661 or nonie@betty.co.uk.

Thank you very much.

Just curious Betty.... do you work for other tv stations too because I've noticed you've posted under other user names for other documentaries about children for different tv stations????

Hi Hapydazy,

Betty is the name of the independent production company that I work for, named after the founder who is called Elizabeth. I'm not sure which postings you are referring to but betty does make documentaries and series for terrestrial and digital channels.

Hope that clarifies things for you,

Kind regards,

Nonie.

Thank you for clarifying that. I just had noticed there were two different users from your IP address, with 2 different names (user and personal) so I was just curious. We have to be careful who we give out such personal information to on the internet so just lookin out for our members here

Hi Hapydazy,

Of course I understand, you have to be careful. TV Production companies are staffed by freelancers who come and go with projects. We all use different methods of trying to find people to advise us and appear in the films we make - which is probably why you've had a couple of people register on Justparents and ask questions pertaining to children and parenting.

It would be great to hear from members with experiences of tweenies!

Kind regards,

Nonie.

Well, I checked out the company and you guys make some interesting if not controversial documentaries. If I was in the UK and had a tween I'd definately be interested in this, but I'm in the US with a 5 yr old girl... it is an interesting subject however and even with just a 5 year old girl, I see her trying very hard sometimes to "act" like her 17 yr old step sister quite often. She once asked me if she was "hot", I thought she meant tempature-wise, I was a bit shocked when she said, "no, I mean like really really pretty" ... I think using the word hot to describe oneself at 5 yrs old is a good example of younger kids trying to "act" older...

Anyway, that's my little 2 cents there! Good luck!

is this the one you are referring to hapydazy?

http://www.betty.co.uk/flash.php

no hun, for some reason that one wouldn't open on my pc at work but I saw some other sites in reference to betty tv and it seems very legit.

hapydazy said:
no hun, for some reason that one wouldn't open on my pc at work but I saw some other sites in reference to betty tv and it seems very legit.

i googled betty production company and i found that site, i have seen lots of the programmes they have made and mainly for the BBC

Ok. So on the subject of the questions raised. I don't think that the children are any more mature than they were say 20 years ago when I was that age, but I think that they are more aware of certain things which I attribute to the increase in information availability. I grew up with 4 channels on the TV (5 if you include S4C) and no internet. Now a lot of kids have TV's and computers in their bedrooms with little control over what they watch.
I think that many parents have lost the respect of their children because they just let them do whatever they want to do and don't control them. Also younger children seem to be hanging around in groups with children a lot older than them and so they are exposed to things sooner than they would be normally.
This sort of thing will potentially lead to sexual activity earlier than it would otherwise, and also the risk of drugs and alcohol related problems. However on these things some education from the parents would not go amiss. As far as I am concerned there is nothing wrong with sensible drinking and so I will almost definitely be introducing my children to alcohol in a controlled environment at home with a small amount of wine with meals when they reach a sensible age. If they are educated about how to drink it sensibly and the consequences otherwise then they will hopefully be less likely to abuse it later. That said I don't know how we fix the problem with binge drinking that we have at the moment, but perhaps the television companies should stop broadcasting programs about it and then it won't put these people on a pedistal and give them the attention they are seeking with this behaviour.
Parents have to take responsibility for the way their children are dressed. Until they have money to go out and choose their own clothes it should be relatively easy to control what they are wearing so that they are not dressed up older than they are. Dressing them older than they are can lead to problems with sexual related activity especially if they don't understand anything about it. The number of girls you see these days where they look 18-21 but in reality are 14-16 or possibly younger is scarey.
I think another problem is the amount pressure parents are under at the moment to provide for their children which potentially means that both parents are working and then the eldest child is put on more to do things around the house and grow up early. This then has a knock on affect on younger siblings wanting to grow up quicker too. The other side to this is the parents that just can't be bothered and so get the kids to do everything while they sit on the sofa.
Anyway probably stirred up a hornets nest with these comments. My male view on things anyway.

well said Owen