The challenge of growing up

 We often and with great conviction express the desire for children and emphasize our love for them. Last but not least, we often hear the statement that children are our future.

In this context, we must ask ourselves what a child is, what defines childhood and how to successfully raise or shape an adult who is ready for independent life

Biological and financial dependence

At birth, a child is a physiologically and biologically extremely sensitive being. The development into an adult, which lasts throughout childhood and adolescence, is a process in which the individual is literally dependent on our help.

Duration of childhood and adolescence: Childhood is usually defined up to the age of 14, followed by the teenage period, which lasts until adulthood (18 years).

Basic needs: For normal biological development, children and adolescents need adequate nutrition, clothing and a suitable living space. Newborns are especially biologically dependent, as they initially depend primarily on mother's milk. During this time, the entire body grows and develops until it reaches its final size in adulthood.

Financial dependency: During this time, children and adolescents are financially and materially dependent on their parents and/or guardians. When parents or guardians cannot provide sufficient funds, the state provides them with assistance through public funds.

Psycho-social aspect of development

Growing up also includes an important psycho-social aspect. A newborn begins to learn about the world through their parents and caregivers. In fact, it is from them that they receive their first knowledge about their psycho-social environment.

Primary socialization: A child learns from their parents how to name things and people, as well as the first evaluations of their social and physical environment. This is professionally called primary socialization – the first knowledge about themselves, others, their own and others' actions.

The role of primary caregivers: We often find that the people who were in the first place in a child's life at the beginning remain key later on. In the process of upbringing and education, school and the wider environment only build on the foundations of knowledge about oneself and the environment that were established at home.

Goal: Responsible adult

Normal biological and psycho-social development should result in a normal, responsible adult.

Adulthood is not only the right to make decisions about oneself and dispose of financial resources, but is primarily the ability to survive and independently build one's own life path.

Everyone who participated in the process of growing up and training a child for an independent life path (parents, guardians, teachers) has thus more or less successfully completed their key task of helping the child become an independent adult.