And that scripture that C.S. Lewis's quote was in response to, about how adults should put away "childish things", is so often misinterpreted as referring to "everything and anything from one's childhood", including such things as kindness, innocence, compassion, wonderment, or even the notions of learning and following rules. So many young folks think that once they become adults (or even teenagers because being a teen is "close enough"), they can just discard whatever they learned and did as a child, when the whole point of people being educated while they're young is so they can take what they learned in their childhood and apply those lessons and knowledge to their adulthood. And those who do properly realize that are often derided as "squares", "losers", "sheep", and the like, by the more toxic crowd who think playing by their own rules is more manly and macho and adult-like. In a sense, this interpretation makes the concept of being "adult" and "mature" more childish than actually being a child.
I remember being a kid and loving Pokemon. I gave it up when I got to be 13-14 because "that's kiddie stuff." Fast forward to me being 20 and staying up to 3 am playing Pokemon Fire Red
Adolescence is a weird time. You're trying to figure out how to be an adult despite not yet being done with childhood, and your hormones are raging so EVERYTHING feels more important than it actually is.
Childhood psychology is a fascinating area, but the cruelest part of it is that no one's ever happy.
As a little kid you want to be a teen, because it's like being the best parts of being a kid and an adult and it seems cool.
As a teen you want to be an adult because you don't wanna be treated like a kid anymore and you assume you're ready for "real responsibilities."
As an adult you lament the loss of both your childhood and teenage years because you didn't have so many responsibilities. Everyone is caught in a cycle of wanting what they can't have and not appreciating what they do until it's too late.
The bigger issue is that the transition from childhood to adulthood is really a very messy, awkward journey and it's evolutionarily meant to be that way. Teens act out, mock what they once treasured as kids, and push boundaries because they're basically overgrown kids who finally have a chance to enter the adult world, but they don't understand what that entails. So they test limits, they mock, they jeer, they cycle through fads and identities like socks, all attempting to understand what adult society's limits are and what their place in it is.
Of course not everyone goes through the same stuff... some people maintain a rather balanced perspective through all of this... but it is messy and a disaster for most of us
