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As I understand it, shingles and chickenpox are different manifestations of the same virus. You get chickenpox as a kid, and the virus remains dormant in your body. In some people, it manifests as shingles when they get older, although most people never get shingles.

Viruses like chickenpox have a symbiotic relationship with humans. Successful viruses don't hurt their hosts; they use us to transmit the virus around, but don't cause any significant damage (like colds, for instance). That's how childhood disease originate: they first appear as plagues (chickenpox first appeared in the Roman Empire in the 2nd or 3rd century and wiped out something like 30% of the population), but over time, the virus mutates to a much milder virus.

Kids get sick more than adults because they haven't built up immunities. They get some immunities transferred from their mothers, but one of your body's main jobs in its first 5-10 years is to get sick, so he or she can build up immunity to common viruses. That's why I'm concerned about this notion that we can (or should) vaccinate against everything. What are the unintended consequences of injecting a dozen vaccines into an immature immune system? The drug companies say, "Oh, there's not any risk. After all, we eradicated polio! Now give us money. Lots and lots of delicious money!" I think responsible parents should ask questions about these vaccines and not just blindly obey BigPharma.