As we get older, we start to understand how our parents feel. When we enter a new year, we realize how different things are from when we were children. Between technological advances and new trends, it's hard to keep up with today's youth. Even if you were born in the 90s, there may be many things that make you feel old. Here are a few:
1. Computers.
When I was growing up, the only thing we did on computers, unless you had a CD-Rom game, was use it for paint. Nowadays, five year-old children have laptops, and know how to work social media platforms. If you were lucky enough to have internet, your computer was hooked up by a cord. There was no Wifi to help you. While it may not have been that long ago, computers have found a way to make us feel old.
2. Cell phones.
If you walk through an elementary school, you will see children with the latest iPhone. When I was in elementary school, we had a landline. You know, those old time phones with the curly cords coming out of the bottom? There was no caller id. You had to pick up the phone to find out who it was. If you wanted to use the phone, but someone else was already using it, tough luck.
3. Movies.
Growing up, I loved watching movies, and I still do. However, when I wanted to watch a movie, I put a VHS tape into a VCR player. If you didn't want to watch the previews, you had to fast-forward through all of them. There was no main menu button. Nowadays, you put a DVD into a bluray player, hit the menu button, and start your movie. Movies can also make you feel old when you remember when some of them came out. Think about your favorite childhood movie. Thought of it? Now google when it came out. Yeah, we're getting old.
4. Music.
In today's society, most people just pull up music on their phones. How do you listen to music? Do you use CDs, go on youtube, or pull up Spotify or Pandora? When I was younger, we had CDs, but we mostly used cassettes. They're these tiny little tapes that you put in a slot on the radio. If the tape came out of your cassette, you either wound it back up or threw it away.
5. Google.
Back in the olden days, there was no google. We used these big books called Encyclopedias. If you wanted to know how a word was spelled, you opened up a dictionary. Couldn't find your word in there? Use a different word.
6. Playing.
Children today spend their time playing on their phones, tablets, and laptops. When I was a kid, I played outside. I played with the other kids in the neighborhood, barbie dolls, and dirt. I was outside from the time I got home from school until the street lights came on. My mom had to tell me to come in. Nowadays, parents have to tell their kids to go outside. All children want to do is play with their technology.
7. Drinking water.
When you were growing up, where did your water come from? From the tap? I drank water from the tap. I filled my glass up at the kitchen sink. If I was outside playing, I drank from the hose. I recently watched a video for a Gululu. It is a technological water bottle that makes drinking water "fun" for children.
I am only nineteen years old, and I constantly feel old. When I'm around teenagers, I feel like I am thirty years older than they are. There are so many differences between my childhood, and children nowadays. However, it's only going to get worse. Technology is still expanding, children go outside less and less, and we get older. While all the changes are going on, though, we can still remember the days of cassettes and playing in the dirt.
