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Changes in Children Increasing About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table, I couldnt help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked: So, how have you been? And the boywho could not have been more than seven or eight years oldreplied. Frankly, Ive been feeling a little depressed lately. The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children dont seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to. Human development is based not only on innate biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social rote to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders. Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practices. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials. A.a sure sign of a psychological problem in a child. C.an inevitable has of childrens mental development. | 
