TODAY'S TOPIC: We asked what is hard about being a kid?

It's hard to be a kid because you have to get up so early so you can go to school and learn. It's so hard. I have to learn multiplication, addition, division, subtraction, handwriting and my odds and evens. After school, I go to the after-school program. You have to clean, clean and clean. When your mom picks you up so you can go home, when you open your door, your hands will be sore. When you get home from school, you have to do your homework. Long multiplication and long division. It's a bummer. After you're done: chores. You're gonna wash your clothes, pick up your room. Man. See what I mean? It's not that cool to be a kid. You're lucky you are six because your big brother or sister cleans up after you. Wait till you're eight.
Bradley Marsh, 8
Fernangeles Elementary
Sun Valley

What I think is hard about being a kid is that I can't always do the things that I think I could do. The problem is that parents don't trust us. They think we are going to do something wrong. For an example, we think we could ride our bikes or scooters on the street all by ourselves but parents don't trust us. We want to do what we want to do. Another example, whenever I think that I could drive a car, parents don't trust you. They don't want me to drive. Whenever I think I can do it, parents just say no. However, I think they say no, sometimes, because they love us and want to protect us.
Lauren Byun, 8
Verdugo Woodlands Elementary
Glendale

It's hard being a kid. I get lots of homework from school. I can't drive cars. I can't go on my own. I can't get a job. I can't have money. I get hard homework. I get in trouble. School is hard.
Edgar Castaneda, 8
Fernangeles Elementary
Sun Valley

I like being a child because it is fun. The most fun part of my childhood is that I have fun taking care of my little two year old brother. I feed him, play with him and have a lot of fun. As I am a child and not an adult, I don't have to worry about bills or bringing home money. But one thing I don't like about being a child is that I have to practice for the California standards test. But still, adults work hard to bring money. Also, they have to take care of their family like buying food.
Gary Sarkisyan, 10
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

I think being a kid is great, usually. The thing that makes it difficult is homework. I am in school half of the day learning. Then, I have to go home and do more work. It doesn't seem fair! I want to rest, play with my friends and watch TV. I know every year I will have more and more homework. I know that it will help me in the future but homework sometimes makes it hard being a kid.
Alex Lattas, 8
Verdugo Woodlands Elementary
Glendale

You have to do chores on the weekends when you just want to lay down. Also, for people that have little siblings, we have to take care of them. Also, we have to go anywhere our parents want to go. You just can't go by yourself to the mall. These are some of the few things that make it difficult for a kid.
David Gonzalez, 11
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

Being a kid is murder! The worst part is going to school because you have to do homework, work, listen and wake up early. Here are some things that are torture: Getting hit, baby-sitting, mean teachers, babies and brothers and sisters. What about what you don't like to eat? Broccoli, tomatoes and red cabbage. But worst of all are chores: doing laundry, cleaning your room, taking a shower and making your bed.
Chris Martinez, 8
Fernangeles Elementary
Sun Valley

I know being a kid is not too easy because when you want to go somewhere, your parents just might say, "I'm tired, maybe later" when you really have to go somewhere important. Or when you need help in math or in your history homework but sometimes they can't always help you. Sometimes I don't find being a kid that hard.
Emily Rodriguez, 12
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

I think going to school is hard. I think it's hard because you don't get to play that much. You mostly work. It's also hard because sometimes they don't let you talk to your friends. What's also hard is keeping myself out of trouble.
Jose Sanchez, 11
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

I think being a kid is fun because you have friends, you have birthday parties and you go to school instead of having a job. What I think that stinks when you're a kid is being bored, the pressure of grades, speeches and homework. Sometimes you want to do something and you can't. Still, with all those things, I still enjoy being a kid!
Cydnee Dos Santos, 10
Live Oak Elementary
Castaic

I think it is school and growing up to be an adult. When you're a kid, you have to go to school and when you're at school, you don't have any time to do other stuff. If you're at school, you get homework for home and then you get chores. This keeps going on and on until you aren't a kid anymore. The only time kids have for ourselves is when it's a weekend but it passes by fast. When you're an adult, you work for money to pay bills.
Adrian Lopez, 11
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

The most difficult part of being a kid is school and thinking about your future. School is important but sometimes something goes wrong like you get in fights, you get bad grades, you're not respectful and you get carried away. Thinking about your future is hard because you have to think of money, your bills, food, a place to live and a job. I start thinking about my future because I'm in fifth grade, then I'm going to middle school and those days go fast and soon I will be in high school, then college and maybe university if I have the money.
Chelsea Velado, 10
Oxnard Elementary School
North Hollywood

The hardest thing about being a kid is being bullied by someone who is way older than you and you can't do anything to fight back. Being bullied is really hard especially when they say, "Don't tell or else." What that means is that if you tell, you get seriously injured. That is what I am afraid of and why.
Christian Espino, 10
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

The hard parts of being a kid are going to school because first of all, we have to be sitting all the time. We get recess but not much time and the food tastes gross. Something else that makes it hard being a kid is obeying our parents. We have to go to bed early everyday and they're not letting us be kids. The thing I hate the most is on Saturdays. My dad tells me to read for an hour.
Israel Gutierrez, 10
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

What makes it hard for a kid is being grounded for a week. You cannot play, have fun or play with toys. It is not so much fun being grounded. You cannot play at all.
Matthew De La Cruz, 10
Oxnard Street Elementary
North Hollywood

COMING UP: Spring is the time for planting. Tell us what you would you plant in your garden or in a plant pot. Flowers? Vegetables? Why did you choose those to grow? Draw a picture of you working in your garden or planting in a pot.

Parents and teachers should make sure that the student's name, address, age and school are CLEARLY PRINTED on the letters and the backs of drawings.

Pictures should be drawn using black or dark blue ink on white, unlined paper. Drawings must be no larger than a standard, 8 1/2-by-11 inch sheet of paper.

The deadline is April 1 and letters will be posted April 8. Letters received after the deadline cannot be considered.

Send entries to Kids' Daily News, P.O. Box 4200, Woodland Hills, CA 91365-4200.