Are our children growing up too fast?

New technology, satellite television, holidays abroad, multi-cultural classrooms, pocket money, Internet, big shopping malls, multi-theatre cinemas:

These are a few of my favourite things. Are our children growing up too fast or just fast enough?
I see children going off to school with backpacks strapped to their backs, big and heavy enough to be carrying another small child inside. What’s inside? Schoolbooks. Do you remember having to carry so many books to and from school where you needed a backpack?
Obviously our children have more to learn and prepare for than we did, or is it just that part of our schooling took a different form?  At what age did you start thinking about college and realising that everything you did in school was going to make a difference to your grades? It used to be that parents got upset with average or poor grades because it showed that you were a daydreamer, the class Casanova, or the class clown. Now they get upset because it means their child will not be able to attend the university or college that could set them up for great success and a chance at early financial stability.
I can understand the financial stability excitement, as I too would tire of, and resent, doing my kids’ laundry after about the age of 17, (OK, age 14.  I grew up with the terribly effective Canadian motivational cheer of “What’s the matter? Do you have a piano tied to your behind? Are your fingers broken that you can’t do it yourself?”)
The pressure on our young human beings (that is the definition of ‘child’ in the dictionary) is enormous. I see a steady stream of young people that come for help in dealing with the pressures of their life. And the average age is 11. 
You can scoff and say what you like, but their emotional and environmental issues are real and they often are left feeling isolated and scared. The current and highly competitive spirit of modern learning and achievement is beyond what most adults are able to handle. 
Media, societal changes, technology, decreased school days, parental pressures, peer pressures, individual need to stand out and succeed — these are a few of my least favourite things. Are our children growing up too fast?  I think they are just trying to stay in the race like we did (and are) because let’s face it, where the heck IS that finish line?