Childhood is not a territory for experimentation

Early adultification and the transfer of adult responsibilities to children demand special attention. Childhood is not a disposable interval, nor should it be shortened to meet the expectations, disputes or emotional needs of adults. Children need protection, guidance, limits and stable references.

“Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Matthew 19:14 — Almeida Revista e Corrigida (ARC)

Parentification — when the child takes on emotional or practical functions that should belong to adults — inverts responsibilities and can impose a weight incompatible with his stage of development. Paul also instructs parents:

“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the doctrine and admonition of the Lord.”

Ephesians 6:4 — Almeida Revista e Corrigida (ARC)

Parental responsibility does not consist in transferring the adults' conflicts to the children, but in offering presence, direction and formation. Likewise, the voluntary infantilization of adults — the persistent refusal to take on commitments, exercise self-control and answer for their own choices — contradicts the maturity that the Christian life should produce.

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I reasoned as a child, but, as soon

as I became a man, I put away childish things.”

1 Corinthians 13:11 — Almeida Revista e Corrigida (ARC)