Written by Lynne M Taylor (aka Common Core Diva), an associate of Tom DeWeese

If you remember the Disney version of “Peter Pan,” you may well remember the Island’s name, Neverland. If you were raising children in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, you may recall the commercial from Toys R Us. The line from the jingle was “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid.” In many similar ways, we’ve seen our culture promote delayed childhood.

In our current time (2025), there are an alarming number of young adults (16 to 24 years) who are absolutely clueless when it comes to the basics of being on their own. What do I mean? Examples like balancing a checkbook, cooking, laundry, and changing a tire are just a few of what I’m referring to. But it goes beyond these types of basics. It’s also mentally crippling our young people.

At one point in America’s educational landscape, many of the basic tasks were the responsibility of the parents. For instance, Dad might have taught you how to mow the lawn. Mom might have been the one to teach you how to wash clothes. While there ARE some parents who haven't let up on teaching their children these things, many other children/young adults haven’t been so blessed.

It might be the parents bought into the sales pitch that only the school could teach, maybe it was the parents were not able to nurture their children for whatever reason, or maybe it's the fact that both parents worked and were unable to lead their families, so they relied on the school system. Or worse, allowed the Hollywood culture to raise their children via massive amounts of media (via TV, computer games, social media).

So, the question is: Is the lack in our young adults all the parents’ fault? Mainstream media is great at pointing the finger in that direction. Based on my years of educational research, I believe that it’s not one party’s fault, rather it’s a definite combination.

The education system has continued usurping how a family lives, learns, believes, and acts. Think about how, over the past 20+ years, the U.S. Department of Education has tried to "co-parent" our own children! In more recent years, the word play has shifted from "‘ambassadors" to “family engagement.”[1] Either way, nowhere in the U.S. Constitution was it ever stated that We the People wanted our government to "co-parent" with us! The "sales pitch" for engagement at a family level: “student success”! It also has led to MTSS (Multi-Tier Support Systems), part of the encircling of the nanny state over the family so that, after all, Johnny and Suzy can learn what the system wants them to. This has been tagged as "whole child learning" and isn’t about imparting knowledge so much as it’s about mind manipulation. Consider the fact that "critical thinking" isn’t kept at an age appropriate level (high school), but is being inserted into Kindergarten—well before the brain’s natural maturation process is ready for such complexities. Don’t gloss over the supposed goal of this shift, either. It’s all about collectivism, not individuality! It’s about grooming people into becoming comfortable with living in a "nanny state" where the government is not only your provider of where you live, what you eat, but also becoming your parents!

While the term “Peter Pan Syndrome (PPS)” first surfaced in 1983, the ideology has also gone on to include “Wendy.” What does this mean? The author (Dr. Dan Kiley) of the book[2] about PPS first focused on the male population as not able to communicate/commit to a relationship/difficulties in holding down a job, etc. He also wrote about how women can also be just as vulnerable to some of the same issues. In 2025, however, the terminology has shifted to "wokeness." Being "woke" isn’t so much about the lack of adult activities you can or cannot complete, as it is about what you believe as an adult. Hence, the mind-manipulation aspect I brought up earlier.

In Kiley’s first book, PPS was described as people who couldn’t master "challenging adult activities," hold down a steady relationship and could be extended to adults up to the age of 40. The book also shared that the root cause was the "patriarchal ideas about gender." Other "typical" signs can be: self-centeredness, fear of being alone, a heavy reliance on others, and not accepting any type of criticism due to the harshness of it all. If you’re thinking about "social justice warriors," then you’re not too far removed from PPS. (*Note: Social justice warriors are the type of people who will not tolerate your belief and are willing to force you to believe theirs instead.) Collectivism breeds these types of globalism-minded minions.

It’s also interesting that neither[3] the Centers for Disease Control or the (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) DSM-5 Manual recognizes PPS. Why bring up these resources? Because our culture adheres to the CDC when it comes to anything about health and well being (a new term for mind manipulation). Schools which receive our taxpayer dollars are forced to comply with DSM-5 Manual for labeling students with all types of conditions of the mind, valid or invalid! (*Note: This article is not to detract from the fact that there are bona fide cases of mental health issues, as there are also physical issues which can cause a person to not be able to reach what’s considered adulthood. Rather, this article is to point out the abuse of the facts, thus creating a false sense of reality and, as a consequence, ensure a nation of dependency, not of freedom or independence.) There’s an online PPS test[4] that you can take to see how you, too, may be a person who cannot (or will not) grow up.

If knowing all this from an academic viewpoint isn’t disturbing enough, the economic websites and media are following this topic as well. Why is the economic world concerned about people who are not growing up, or, worse, don’t know what to do, once they are grown? Jobs, my friends! Plain and simple. If you don’t have trained workers, how will Big Tech, Big Biz, and all the other controlling arms and legs of our government survive?

Back in 2020, MarketWatch’s website[5] was so condescending to the parents about the issue of not adulting, it offered economic based "advice!" The writer described the societal nightmare as young people have "failure to launch." Don’t (or maybe do) compare this phrase with the Hollywood movie by the same name (hint: it was about a grown man who couldn’t commit to a solid love relationship).

Earlier this year, an international economic website[6] also pointed out that our young adults aren’t growing up. Then, there’s an article that brings up that our governments have purposefully caused our young adults to remain infants, so to speak. This not a failure, but part of a well orchestrated plan[7], which we have allowed to continue on! Some of the very points I have found in my research for this APC article are included in the linked article. It’s well worth a frank discussion at not only the educational system level but at a community level, too. You may be asking why should you get involved, especially if you are outside of the public school system, or don’t have any children of school age. Getting involved is the right thing to do and for the right reasons. Getting involved also means that you understand that no amount of government funding to any school type, especially using education saving accounts, school choice funds, etc., will stop this system from being attached to your family. The money trail creates a data trail that is needed to ensure family compliance to the government’s system. It also feeds into the international workforce supply which attaches itself to collectivism and social justice needed to carry out America’s compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals.

We are fighting against a bureaucratic beast system full of both mainstream political parties who are more concerned about the thinly veiled "success" of using education so that a global agenda is achieved, not personal growth or personal success in life. Regardless of what political party you believe is at fault, it’s our children and their children who are caught in the crossfire. Don’t allow this myopic globalism plan to continue to thrive! The social and emotional kidnapping that has visited every member-state of the UN must be held accountable! Our children are our most precious gift we have.

Sources:

[1] https://www.ed.gov/birth-grade-12-education/resources-families/family-partnership-and-engagement

[2] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/peter-pan-syndrome

[3] https://ruhighlander.org/home/2024/5/16/the-rising-problem-of-peter-pan-syndrome

[4] https://www.psychmechanics.com/peter-pan-syndrome-test-25-items/

[5] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/22-going-on-16-advice-for-parents-with-kids-who-wont-grow-up-2020-03-19

[6] https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/04/10/too-many-adults-are-absolutely-clueless

[7] https://nsa.edu/blog/Adulting-is-Good-for-You

____________________________________

Lynne M. Taylor (aka Common Core Diva) is a published writer, speaker, media guest and freedom loving American. She’s married with 3 grown children and resides in NC. Questions, comments? Email me at info@commoncorediva.com. Need me to speak at an event on this topic or anything related to education, email me. I’ll be happy to work with your group. Donations to offset my research, speaking, and travel are appreciated.