As a young child, it was everyone’s dream to grow up and create our own version of our parents’ lives.

However, as we grow older, it is not uncommon to long for the innocence of childhood. Unlike most people, I have never yearned for the naivety of childhood again.

There were of course the beautiful, innocent moments that shaped the person I became today, but the majority of it was contemptible. 

Similarly to many children throughout elementary and middle school, I faced incessant bullying from several of my peers. According to a study done by University at Buffalo, 1 in 3 students experienced bullying at some point in their lives, most of it taking place in middle school. 

The frequency of the experience of bullying diminishes as we age past school years, as most people are now too busy or too mature to pick on someone else. 

As I’ve grown up and begun to experience the joys of adulthood, living on my own, going to a new school and making new friends, I’ve found that life is much more enjoyable than it was as a child. 

Growing up as an extremely quiet and outspoken child, I never felt as though I was taken seriously by the adults in my life. I was not the only child to have felt this way, however. 

In March, the New York Times conducted an interview with children from ages 11 to14 and asked them what message they would like to send to adults. One participant of the study urges audience members to listen. 

Another simple pleasure of adulthood is the freedom that comes with it. Growing up, we have all  wished to be able to go out whenever we wanted, choose our own meals and, for some of us, wished that we could work a job that pays more than minimum wage. 

Overprotective parents certainly don’t help with this longing for freedom. Having the privilege to leave the house without worrying about the harsh consequences I had faced at the hands of my parents is a luxury I had been waiting to encounter my entire life.