Childhood vs. Adulthood

“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change.” ― Heraclitus

As the above quote clearly states, change in inevitable. Even in human life, with time, an individual soul and the physical body undergoes change and thus with change, differences and similarities are bound to arise. In the human growth, the change can be broadly broken down into two groups: childhood and adulthood.

Children and adults can be contrasted in how they act and the way they physically respond to situations. Children have been seen to act in a free manner, worrying mostly about them, over time learning to consider other’s views and feelings when completing an action. This is because children have not gone in the real world all by themselves. There is a lot of pressure on adults to conform to act in a certain way, as there is for children, but only adults feel this pressure. With experience and time as children reach adulthood they understand what is acceptable at what times and what is not.

Learning is an unending phenomenon. As we already know, childhood is when you learn about the world and how to survive in it. In adulthood, you can learn the new ways of doing things and improving you way of life. Thus, the concept of learning remains constant both in childhood and adulthood.

For most of a child’s life they are learning the basics of life. Most of the time they are provided with what is needed to survive and they can focus on discovering how the world around them works and how do they have to tackle the series of hurdles in this complex world. The transaction from childhood to adulthood is not possible without having a vast bag of experience that one gets with time. As adults, they will be seen as capable of standing on their own feet, they will have to rely mostly on themselves, and they will be in charge of obtaining what they want and need to be contented. By now they will have realized that they are responsible for their actions and have to choose their own path in life.

Whatever said and done, both children and adults need friends in their life. Friends are that component of life that keeps you sane and helps you to live a normal life. Friends are the ones with whom you can be your own self. Even the adults don’t have to alter their actions to ‘fit’ in the group. You are accepted for the way you are. Some humans who prefer staying alone, in solitude haven’t actually lived their life to the fullest. Friends might change with time, but without friends, childhood and adulthood is incomplete.

Examinations are what that tests you on a particular subject or concept that you have knowingly or unknowingly prepared for over the time in the past. For children, as their basic goal is to learn as much as possible about the world, they are sent to schools. Schools are where they are taught various arts and sciences. They are then tested on whatever they have been taught on a weekly, monthly or even annual basis. For adults, examinations are a different. They are not given a sheet of paper to answer a couple of questions in an allotted period of time. Instead they are to deal with real life situations and make important decisions in their lives. These situations and decisions are the examinations for adults that test them on their presence of mind, smartness level and their awareness about the world. The ones who learn from their own mistakes are the ones who clear this exam but the ones who learn from others mistakes are the ones who ace this exam with flying colors. Thus, though the styles and patterns of giving an examination are different in the stages, the idea of examination remains the same.

Imagination and creativity are some of the few things that everyone is born with but that can be more vividly seen in children as compared to the adults. This is because the children aren’t worked up with the busy schedule and the rush of life as compared to the adults. They have all the time in the world to think of new ideas and share them with their fellows. The adults get over involved with their work and their skill of imagination gradually deteriorates. Even if they get a new idea, they do not have the courage to take a stand and tell the whole world about it. They have this thought that if they try something new; they will be made fun off.

Every child’s dream is to grow up fast and turn into an adult. Turing into an adult opens various doors for them. Some of the common things a child wants are stuff like driving license, voting rights (in democratic countries), the thrill of earning themselves and buying their favorite SUV or bike. However what they don’t know is that life is not all butterflies. The things that they dream about are just the sweet outer layer of the bitter and tough inner layer. After all, all that glitter is not gold. An adult wishes that he went back to being a child as it was that time of his life when he did not have to take care of people but instead, was taken care off. Being a child gives you the privilege of doing whatever you want without the tension of losing a job. Both these phases have their own pros and cons. But what they reap as a child, and the choices they make as an adult shape them into a fine human being that they would be.