Nan Hua Primary-- Kacey Pang #SpeakUp2026

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I'm Casey from Primary 1A of Nang Hoa Primary School. I have a very important question. If being an adult is so amazing, why do adults keep ruining children's fun? They go to Disneyland, watch Disney movies, buy giant Lego sets, and then they tell us, enjoy being a child while you can. Very suspicious. When I was younger, I thought adults had the perfect life. They set their own bedtime, they can eat whatever they want, and no one gives them spelling corrections. Sounds amazing, right? But after conducting 7 years of very careful research on adults, I've discovered something. Adults are always tired, and they forget things all the time. At school, they have gymnastics, piano, like tuition, and then homework, schedules. But actually, I didn't forget everything. My mum is always looking for a phone, had to call it. Then, she remembers her phone is on silent mode, so it doesn't ring anyway. At this point, my little sister and I become part-time detectives, searching the whole house for missing phones. And my dad isn't much better. My mum asks dad to buy milk. He comes home with eggs, bread and maybe snacks. But no milk, because they're a shopping adventure. And after conducting years of careful research, I discovered something shocking. Adults are not as responsible as they seem to be. Adults are always telling children to remember things. Remember your homework! Remember your spelling! Remember your water! When Mum loses her phone and Dad forgets the milk, my little sister and I become the ones reminding them. For a few minutes, the children become the adults. I think the biggest reason adults miss being children is this. Children are adventurous. In junior studies, when I learn a new skill, I don't always get it right. That's right, sometimes I won't go, sometimes I fall, sometimes I look more like a flying starfish than a gymnast. But I always guess I'm going to try again. Sometimes I get scared too. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? But I try anyway. Because being brave doesn't mean not being scared. Maybe that's what adults forget. Somewhere along the way, adults stop being adventurous. So I think I'm kind of afraid of making mistakes. But children don't think that way. fall down, we get back up. When we see a problem, we jump in it. We have a question, we ask it. Maybe growing up is not the problem. Maybe forgetting how to wonder is. So if you ever hear adults say, I wish I were a kid again, maybe what they really meant is, I wish I hadn't forgotten how to laugh like one. Thank you.