I bet a lot of teenage depression comes from people no longer thinking you're cute and smiling when they see you.

Speak for yourself. The older and fatter I get the more kawaii I become.

My nephew was straight up adorable from the moment he was born. People doted on him left and right. He was a personable, polite little boy (beyond his years so it stood out) and wait staff etc would take time to say hello, compliment his parents and maybe give him a treat.

Then he got that little bit older and his baby brother was born. The attention shifted away from him. You could see him try to interact with people in the same way, and when he didn't get the same reaction a little light left his eyes. Don't get me wrong, he's a great little teenager now and it hasn't affected him. But there was a short period of time where he was a sweet little innocent and the world rewarded him for it. The rewards go away, and sometimes without them I think the child stops exhibiting the behaviour.

Interesting thought op.

Edit for typos

I mean that, or they’re old enough to understand the world is flaming pile of garbage. Or their hormones and brain development are all out of wack so they know what they want to do but not why they can’t just do it. Or the fact they’re dealing with the move to high school and the pressures of academia, puberty, trying to carve out their own sense of identity and self worth… any of those sound more plausible as “you aren’t as cute as you were when you were 4”.

You must live somewhere much different from me.

Children are not treated like that in small Christian conservative farm towns. At least not the one I grew up in.

I mostly remember getting more confident because people no longer thought I was a girl because I had long hair YMMV