I really like the observations his niece makes, specifically “When I play hide and seek with my friends I have to hide, but if I don’t want to be seen by grown-ups I just have to be quiet.”
I was at the zoo with my girlfriend in the reptile section. A little boy was staring into the same tank that we were, his mom was maybe ten feet away. You know how reptiles are, they are always hiding behind some rock or branch or just blending in nefariously. So I ask the boy, "Do you see the snake?" It felt awkward to ignore another human being crowding around the glass with us and I figured I would give him a chance to feel good by showing off his superior reptile-spotting ability.
He seemed shocked that an adult he didn't know would talk to him. There's something weird about that being weird.
Because in the past you could have been a reptile enthusiast, and he might have been interested and maybe you could have taught him something.
Now everyone just looks at you weird.
Wait! Not like that, you'll get arrested.
Are there great things about being young (whether that be 16 or 21)? Sure. But there are a lot of great things about being older too, and it's easy to lose site of those things. I'm 30 now and I'm much more comfortable in my own skin now than I was even 5 or 10 years ago. Generally, I'm happier now than I was back then. I'm definitely smarter and more capable, in work and in life.
It's easy to think about how great it would be if you could be 21 again (while still knowing everything you've learned from your experiences since then), but, as they say, youth is wasted on the young. That's just how life works.
All we can do is encourage people of all ages to make the most of the opportunities they have right now.