Kids who grow up on farms have a head start in some ways over city kids, because they usually have meaningful work to do as part of the family enterprise from an early age.
Compulsory education, that we are now raising a significant proportion of the population to adulthood with no experience of work, or even meaningful responsibilities.
While these kids may appear to be having a good time, many of them struggle with low self-esteem and depression from age ten onwards. Psychologically, human beings need to know that they make a difference that they are needed and valuable, that they contribute and are part of something bigger than themselves. Children who don’t have the experience of significant adults relying on them to do their job, children who have everything provided for them, start to get anxious. Subconsciously, they know that something is expected in return.