Who'd choose to come home after a gruelling day at work, scrub the house clean, cook the dinner, get the kids bathed and ready for bed then finally succumb to the mighty fist of exhaustion?

Not me.

That is the fundamental core of what it means to be an adult. It isn't about drinking and partying, wearing saucy clothes or having mountains of cash free to spend on whatever you want. So why is everyone so desperate to grow up at breakneck speed?

Today's society? Ah yes, of course. Society caused this, society encourages that. Society seems to be the ultimate scapegoat for everything nowadays. But... we are society, are we not? And if, together, we form society, then why can't, together, we change society?

So, what are we waiting for? Let's make it cool again to come home, sling your bag down in the porch, grab a cheese string from the fridge and whack an episode of Tracey Beaker on the telly.

If we want to wear crocs and socks - cool! If we want to style our hair in bunches - great! If we want to eat chocolate cake for breakfast- awesome!

At 16, I'm all too aware of my own childhood slowly running out of time. It's a bit like being pushed towards the side of a cliff with a steaming, foaming sea of adult responsibilities at the bottom.

I sometimes worry that I have misspent my own childhood, wanting to be a teenager, then wanting to go to university and thinking about viable career choices for the future when really, all I needed to worry about was whether I wanted fish fingers or chicken nuggets for dinner.

Ellie Rose, 16, New Costessey