This spring, in partnership with the public-ethics program Winning Words, we interviewed a group of second-graders at an elementary school on the South Side of Chicago about what they think it means to be a kid. The exchanges below have been lightly edited and condensed.
●
ELIAN
What’s the best part of being a kid?
You don’t have to do a lot of work.
And what do you like to do?
I like to just play soccer.
Are there things that you think your parents or teachers can learn from you?
Yeah, but I don’t really know anything right now. Because I used to be into everything but I just watched my first soccer game in 2014 and I was into it and now I just like soccer so much that I don’t know what I’m going to do.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Having to be told what to do. When you’re an adult you decide what your bedtime is. But when you’re a kid your bedtime is 8 o’clock or 7 o’clock. Sometimes my dad lets me stay up until midnight when my mom’s not around. My mom doesn’t want me to stay up late.
Right. So there are rules. Do you think grown-ups have rules?
No. Well, they might have rules. It’s possible.
What do you think is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
Grown-ups have more responsibility. Like, if I get hurt and we’re not in school, they’re responsible for me getting hurt.
And if you’re a kid you don’t have responsibilities?
You do. I have to clean my room. But that’s not as big of a responsibility as having to take your kid to the hospital if they break their leg.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
If you wanted to be a kid, you could take school for your whole life if you wanted to.
When do you stop being a kid, do you think?
I think you have a choice to stop being a kid.
So there’s not any time when it just ends?
No.
Do you want to be a kid forever?
No.
Why not?
Because there’s downsides for kids, and there’s downsides for adults. But I want to see how both feel.
Do you think your parents remember what it was like to be a kid?
Yeah, my dad does because my dad’s mom died when he was a kid. I will always remember what it’s like to be a kid because my grandpa died when I was a kid. I was three. And my dad was fifteen.
Why do you think those sad things help you remember what it’s like to be a kid?
Because you’re not going to have parents forever. It’s not like they have a never-ending life and they have this magic potion.
What do you think being a kid is for?
I don’t really know, but my best guess of thinking of what a kid would be for, I think is… for the next generation. If there were no more kids after me, life would stop.
●
RAF
What do you think is the best part of being a kid?
That you’re younger and that you can feel like you’re actually going to be old sometime.
Why is that good?
It’s good to be younger because there are people telling you what to do, so you don’t have to make mistakes. I like to be told what to do. Because if you’re not being told what to do then you can get in trouble. So it’s better to be told what to do than to not be told what to do.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Being not told what to do. Or wait, reverse that. The hardest part of being a kid is being told what to do and the easiest part of being a kid is being not told what to do. Because if you’re not told what to do then you’re free to do something you do want to do.
So it seems like you just changed your mind.
Okay…
No, that’s okay—I’m just curious! So it seems like there are some good things about being told what to do, and some things that aren’t good about it.
Yeah!
What do you like about not being told what to do?
If I’m not told what to do I can do whatever I want, and if I’m told what to do then I have to do that thing.
What would you do if no one told you what to do?
Math. Math, math and only math.
Even for fun?
Even for fun.
Wow. What do you think is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
One’s older and one’s younger, and one’s more mature and one’s less mature.
How do you know when you’re more mature or less mature?
Well, let’s say my younger sister and I were fighting over a toy, to be mature would be to just give her the toy.
Do you think there are things your parents or teachers can learn from you?
No. Well, they can learn how to be a kid. By watching what I do and doing what I do.
Do you like when they act like kids?
No. Too childish.
Do you think it’s not good to be childish?
Only sometimes.
What do you think being a kid is for?
I think being a kid is like the first stage… to grow up. You need to start somewhere. Because if you don’t start somewhere you won’t end anywhere.
Where do you want to end up?
Old. In my grave.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
Yeah! When you get to your teens, you’re a teenager. Or, no! When you get to ten you’re considered a tween. So that’s when—two more years.
Do you want to be a kid?
A teenager.
Why?
I don’t know. I’ll be older. But the thing is… when you’re young you want to be old, but when you’re old you want to be young.
●
CLARA
What do you think is the best part of being a kid?
You don’t have to do work. You can watch TV all day, and you don’t have to go to work, or work hard. Well, school is sort of like work, but not where you actually, like, work.
What do you think is different about school from work?
You learn things from school. And when you work you have to take all the stuff you learned from when you were a child. You need to use your math and stuff for your work. That’s how they’re different.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Having to do all the chores. Your parents just tell you “do this, do that,” and you don’t really like it.
What do you think is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
The biggest difference is that grown-ups work and kids just stay at home. Well, actually… grown-ups go to work and kids go to school.
What about your grandparents, do they work?
No.
Are they grown-ups?
No, they’re seniors.
Do you think that there’s a point when you stop being a kid?
Yeah. When you’re like thirteen, fourteen or fifteen. Then you start working, I think, or once you graduate college. You start a job.
Do you think there are things that your parents and teachers could learn from you that they don’t already know?
Maybe stuff about the civil rights movement, since we learned it in school this year.
What do you think being a kid is for?
For learning and watching TV and playing. Because grown-ups don’t get to play all the time or stay home.
●
CHANNING
What do you think is the best part about being a kid?
Having fun. Going to fun places like Legoland. And Great Wolf Lodge.It’s a hotel with a bunch of water slides. I went with my friend Olivia.
Are those things you think you’ll remember when you’re older?
Yeah, because they were really fun and I always remember fun things.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Having to do harder math. I don’t really like doing math… I have a workbook at home with math and I have to do it every morning. My mom says I have to do it to get my brain ready for school every day. I also have a reading one.
What is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
Grown-ups have to do more work than kids. Because they’re older, and they need money, so they have a job—some of them. At least most of them do.
So having a job is what makes you a grown-up?
Having a job and other things… that are different from being a kid. I mean, if you’re an adult you can still have fun.
How do you think having fun is different when you’re a kid?
You do different stuff. Like something for kids is playing games… Board games and video games. Those are my favorite kind of games. For Christmas, my brother and I got a video-game player. And we got a bunch of video games with it too, so we hook it up to the TV to play it.
Are there things that your parents and teachers can learn from you that they don’t already know?
I don’t know—if I tell them something sometimes they’ll just say, “I know.” Or sometimes they ask me questions about it. So I think that means they know it already, because if they’re asking me questions about it they want to know how I know it and why I know it.
But you think they already know the answers?
I think they know the answers.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
Kind of. Because you’re born a baby, then you turn into a toddler, then you’re mostly a kid when you’re born. But then as you get older, when you’re a teenager you’re still a kid, but when you’re an adult I don’t really think you’re still a kid.
When do you stop being a kid?
When you’re an adult… thirtysomething?
Cool, so I’ve still got some time.
Yeah.
What do you think being a kid is for?
Life! Yeah, that’s all I can think of.
●
MEGAN
What do you think is the best part about being a kid?
That you get to go to school and you can learn too, and you can do more fun things as a kid. I really like my teachers and I like my classroom and I like my classmates.
What do you think is the hardest part of being a kid?
Maybe… to learn how to have responsibilities. Also, sometimes it gets confusing. Like, if someone was telling me something that was a little complicated and I wanted to know it then I’ll want to understand everything about it. So the conversation would get bigger and bigger and bigger.
Do you want to be a grown-up?
Maybe a little bit, because when you’re a grown-up you have more freedom. You get to stay up late, and you get to do whatever you want. But you always have to make sure that you’re taking care of business.
Are there things that your parents and teachers can learn from you that they don’t already know?
Yes, like if we’re learning about something special that their teachers didn’t tell them, I can tell them.
Do you think that there’s a point when people stop being kids?
Yes. So I think it’s four stages: a baby, a kid, a teenager, and then a grown-up. So you would go through the stages.
When do you stop being a kid and start being a teenager?
I would say, when you finish all the grades and you’re going to high school and college.
When do you start being an adult?
When you finish all that. Or another thing is when you move out of the house with your parents. But not everybody does that.
What do you think being a kid is for?
So that you can learn and so that you can know how it feels to be a kid.
How does it feel?
It feels good. Because you get to do fun things and you enjoy it. And you get to go to school and learn and be with your friends.
●
ELLIOT
What is the best part about being a kid?
You get to watch TV all day, and you get to watch what you want to watch.
What do you think is the hardest part of being a kid?
Learning things. Some things are different from other things in math. Let’s say, multiplication is different from addition, so you need to get used to doing both.
What is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
They have jobs and they have to work harder.
Do you wish you were a grown-up?
Sometimes. Because they would listen to what you’re saying. If I were just talking to another kid about how not to do something because it wasn’t safe they wouldn’t listen.
Are there things you wish they understood about being a kid that they don’t?
Yes. How hard it is learning things. You already know them and you’re going over them again, but you’re doing more complicated things. Sometimes it is hard for me.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
Sometimes. It’s how they act. When they’re trying to be serious it happens.
Are there things you’re going to miss about being a kid when you’re not a kid anymore?
Yes. All my friends, because they’re probably going to move away or find new friends.
What do you think being a kid is for?
So you can grow up and see different ways on how things can work with other people, and how things change as you get older.
Do you think I’m a kid?
Maybe. Well, everybody once was a kid.
This spring, in partnership with the public-ethics program Winning Words, we interviewed a group of second-graders at an elementary school on the South Side of Chicago about what they think it means to be a kid. The exchanges below have been lightly edited and condensed.
●
ELIAN
What’s the best part of being a kid?
You don’t have to do a lot of work.
And what do you like to do?
I like to just play soccer.
Are there things that you think your parents or teachers can learn from you?
Yeah, but I don’t really know anything right now. Because I used to be into everything but I just watched my first soccer game in 2014 and I was into it and now I just like soccer so much that I don’t know what I’m going to do.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Having to be told what to do. When you’re an adult you decide what your bedtime is. But when you’re a kid your bedtime is 8 o’clock or 7 o’clock. Sometimes my dad lets me stay up until midnight when my mom’s not around. My mom doesn’t want me to stay up late.
Right. So there are rules. Do you think grown-ups have rules?
No. Well, they might have rules. It’s possible.
What do you think is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
Grown-ups have more responsibility. Like, if I get hurt and we’re not in school, they’re responsible for me getting hurt.
And if you’re a kid you don’t have responsibilities?
You do. I have to clean my room. But that’s not as big of a responsibility as having to take your kid to the hospital if they break their leg.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
If you wanted to be a kid, you could take school for your whole life if you wanted to.
When do you stop being a kid, do you think?
I think you have a choice to stop being a kid.
So there’s not any time when it just ends?
No.
Do you want to be a kid forever?
No.
Why not?
Because there’s downsides for kids, and there’s downsides for adults. But I want to see how both feel.
Do you think your parents remember what it was like to be a kid?
Yeah, my dad does because my dad’s mom died when he was a kid. I will always remember what it’s like to be a kid because my grandpa died when I was a kid. I was three. And my dad was fifteen.
Why do you think those sad things help you remember what it’s like to be a kid?
Because you’re not going to have parents forever. It’s not like they have a never-ending life and they have this magic potion.
What do you think being a kid is for?
I don’t really know, but my best guess of thinking of what a kid would be for, I think is… for the next generation. If there were no more kids after me, life would stop.
●
RAF
What do you think is the best part of being a kid?
That you’re younger and that you can feel like you’re actually going to be old sometime.
Why is that good?
It’s good to be younger because there are people telling you what to do, so you don’t have to make mistakes. I like to be told what to do. Because if you’re not being told what to do then you can get in trouble. So it’s better to be told what to do than to not be told what to do.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Being not told what to do. Or wait, reverse that. The hardest part of being a kid is being told what to do and the easiest part of being a kid is being not told what to do. Because if you’re not told what to do then you’re free to do something you do want to do.
So it seems like you just changed your mind.
Okay…
No, that’s okay—I’m just curious! So it seems like there are some good things about being told what to do, and some things that aren’t good about it.
Yeah!
What do you like about not being told what to do?
If I’m not told what to do I can do whatever I want, and if I’m told what to do then I have to do that thing.
What would you do if no one told you what to do?
Math. Math, math and only math.
Even for fun?
Even for fun.
Wow. What do you think is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
One’s older and one’s younger, and one’s more mature and one’s less mature.
How do you know when you’re more mature or less mature?
Well, let’s say my younger sister and I were fighting over a toy, to be mature would be to just give her the toy.
Do you think there are things your parents or teachers can learn from you?
No. Well, they can learn how to be a kid. By watching what I do and doing what I do.
Do you like when they act like kids?
No. Too childish.
Do you think it’s not good to be childish?
Only sometimes.
What do you think being a kid is for?
I think being a kid is like the first stage… to grow up. You need to start somewhere. Because if you don’t start somewhere you won’t end anywhere.
Where do you want to end up?
Old. In my grave.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
Yeah! When you get to your teens, you’re a teenager. Or, no! When you get to ten you’re considered a tween. So that’s when—two more years.
Do you want to be a kid?
A teenager.
Why?
I don’t know. I’ll be older. But the thing is… when you’re young you want to be old, but when you’re old you want to be young.
●
CLARA
What do you think is the best part of being a kid?
You don’t have to do work. You can watch TV all day, and you don’t have to go to work, or work hard. Well, school is sort of like work, but not where you actually, like, work.
What do you think is different about school from work?
You learn things from school. And when you work you have to take all the stuff you learned from when you were a child. You need to use your math and stuff for your work. That’s how they’re different.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Having to do all the chores. Your parents just tell you “do this, do that,” and you don’t really like it.
What do you think is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
The biggest difference is that grown-ups work and kids just stay at home. Well, actually… grown-ups go to work and kids go to school.
What about your grandparents, do they work?
No.
Are they grown-ups?
No, they’re seniors.
Do you think that there’s a point when you stop being a kid?
Yeah. When you’re like thirteen, fourteen or fifteen. Then you start working, I think, or once you graduate college. You start a job.
Do you think there are things that your parents and teachers could learn from you that they don’t already know?
Maybe stuff about the civil rights movement, since we learned it in school this year.
What do you think being a kid is for?
For learning and watching TV and playing. Because grown-ups don’t get to play all the time or stay home.
●
CHANNING
What do you think is the best part about being a kid?
Having fun. Going to fun places like Legoland. And Great Wolf Lodge.It’s a hotel with a bunch of water slides. I went with my friend Olivia.
Are those things you think you’ll remember when you’re older?
Yeah, because they were really fun and I always remember fun things.
What is the hardest part of being a kid?
Having to do harder math. I don’t really like doing math… I have a workbook at home with math and I have to do it every morning. My mom says I have to do it to get my brain ready for school every day. I also have a reading one.
What is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
Grown-ups have to do more work than kids. Because they’re older, and they need money, so they have a job—some of them. At least most of them do.
So having a job is what makes you a grown-up?
Having a job and other things… that are different from being a kid. I mean, if you’re an adult you can still have fun.
How do you think having fun is different when you’re a kid?
You do different stuff. Like something for kids is playing games… Board games and video games. Those are my favorite kind of games. For Christmas, my brother and I got a video-game player. And we got a bunch of video games with it too, so we hook it up to the TV to play it.
Are there things that your parents and teachers can learn from you that they don’t already know?
I don’t know—if I tell them something sometimes they’ll just say, “I know.” Or sometimes they ask me questions about it. So I think that means they know it already, because if they’re asking me questions about it they want to know how I know it and why I know it.
But you think they already know the answers?
I think they know the answers.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
Kind of. Because you’re born a baby, then you turn into a toddler, then you’re mostly a kid when you’re born. But then as you get older, when you’re a teenager you’re still a kid, but when you’re an adult I don’t really think you’re still a kid.
When do you stop being a kid?
When you’re an adult… thirtysomething?
Cool, so I’ve still got some time.
Yeah.
What do you think being a kid is for?
Life! Yeah, that’s all I can think of.
●
MEGAN
What do you think is the best part about being a kid?
That you get to go to school and you can learn too, and you can do more fun things as a kid. I really like my teachers and I like my classroom and I like my classmates.
What do you think is the hardest part of being a kid?
Maybe… to learn how to have responsibilities. Also, sometimes it gets confusing. Like, if someone was telling me something that was a little complicated and I wanted to know it then I’ll want to understand everything about it. So the conversation would get bigger and bigger and bigger.
Do you want to be a grown-up?
Maybe a little bit, because when you’re a grown-up you have more freedom. You get to stay up late, and you get to do whatever you want. But you always have to make sure that you’re taking care of business.
Are there things that your parents and teachers can learn from you that they don’t already know?
Yes, like if we’re learning about something special that their teachers didn’t tell them, I can tell them.
Do you think that there’s a point when people stop being kids?
Yes. So I think it’s four stages: a baby, a kid, a teenager, and then a grown-up. So you would go through the stages.
When do you stop being a kid and start being a teenager?
I would say, when you finish all the grades and you’re going to high school and college.
When do you start being an adult?
When you finish all that. Or another thing is when you move out of the house with your parents. But not everybody does that.
What do you think being a kid is for?
So that you can learn and so that you can know how it feels to be a kid.
How does it feel?
It feels good. Because you get to do fun things and you enjoy it. And you get to go to school and learn and be with your friends.
●
ELLIOT
What is the best part about being a kid?
You get to watch TV all day, and you get to watch what you want to watch.
What do you think is the hardest part of being a kid?
Learning things. Some things are different from other things in math. Let’s say, multiplication is different from addition, so you need to get used to doing both.
What is the biggest difference between grown-ups and kids?
They have jobs and they have to work harder.
Do you wish you were a grown-up?
Sometimes. Because they would listen to what you’re saying. If I were just talking to another kid about how not to do something because it wasn’t safe they wouldn’t listen.
Are there things you wish they understood about being a kid that they don’t?
Yes. How hard it is learning things. You already know them and you’re going over them again, but you’re doing more complicated things. Sometimes it is hard for me.
Do you think people ever stop being kids?
Sometimes. It’s how they act. When they’re trying to be serious it happens.
Are there things you’re going to miss about being a kid when you’re not a kid anymore?
Yes. All my friends, because they’re probably going to move away or find new friends.
What do you think being a kid is for?
So you can grow up and see different ways on how things can work with other people, and how things change as you get older.
Do you think I’m a kid?
Maybe. Well, everybody once was a kid.
If you liked this essay, you’ll love reading The Point in print.