Growing up, my parents made me and my brothers go outside every day (unless it was raining). Whether it was riding our Razor scooters around the block, playing whiffle ball in the side yard, or getting together a game of jailbreak, we were always staying active. Unfortunately, today's kids can't seem to be interested in anything unless it involves a screen. And I believe it's their parents' fault.

Technology is definitely a huge factor in the decline of children's physical activity and in the increase of obesity. Video games are played at an alarming rate. Nowadays, children have screens thrown in their faces when they're as young as three (or even before that). When I was three years old, I was playing with my dogs or running around the house with my brothers... I wasn't watching cartoons every minute of every day. Parents can't seem to be bothered with their kids. If that's the case, you shouldn't have had them to begin with. Kids need to be active. They won't be young forever. The best memories are made when you're outside and are getting involved. What happened to being able to know everyone's whereabouts when you saw their bikes parked in front of someone's house? What happened to coming home when the street lights came on?

Children's fashion has changed dramatically as well. Some parents begin dressing their kids in Jordans, Uggs, or other expensive clothing at such a young age. Adolescent girls completely skip the awkward stage of wearing SillyBandz and matching sweatsuits with a Bobby Jack monkey tee. I've seen tween girls "beat their face", making them go from looking like a 12-year-old to a 16-year-old. Enjoy being a kid. Enjoy looking young. Go get yourself some Lip Smacker lip gloss instead of a MAC lip stain.

Parents seem to want to be a friend more than a parent to their child. Regardless, the parent role needs to be there. Unless you want your child to be running around in the streets and getting into trouble, teach them with tough love. Take away their cell phones, televisions, computers, and turn off the wifi. Punishment needs to be applied and rewards can be given. But rewards shouldn't be handed out every time they do the bare minimum.

Respect.

That's something that children in this day and age lack tremendously. Kids will cuss their parents out like there's no tomorrow. They talk back (I was guilty of this in high school). They fight their parents. They throw hissy fits when material possessions aren't given to them rather than working for what they want. Respect should be given to the people who have raised you or that have helped raise you. In 20 years, I don't want scroll through Facebook to see a parent post a video of their child cussing in order to publicly embarrass their child for acting that way. Not only does it embarrass the child, it should embarrass the parent as well.

Kids are trying to grow up too quickly now. It is up to the parents and our generation to change the future. Let's come together to raise our kids the way we were raised. I would much rather hear my future child tell me that they scraped their knee when they fell off their bike than have them sit on their behinds and play the latest video game for hours.