I recently have had several conversations about "kids these days" that has sparked a whole lot of internal conflicts for me. The original conversation involved a dinner with some family friends where we discussed who is considered Millennials v. Generation Z. We soon found out that even though we're all in our late teens-early 20s we are grouped in with all those born after the year 2000.

Generational groups are kind of ambiguous so there is no clear point of where Millennials start and end, but most would say I am in Generation Z, I was born in 1998. I really couldn't care less what generational group I am "in", but I do have a problem being grouped in the same one as kids after the early 2000s simply because I believe I grew up in a completely different world than them.

Sure technology was always a part of my childhood, but you better believe my childhood self never sat on an iPhone or iPad type technology. I spent almost all my time outside or in my basement with an unbelievable amount of dolls, board games and VHS tapes.

The only "apps" I had were mozzarella sticks, and I did not watch the "kids shows" on TV today that seems to become more and more adult. I had a fuzzy cord phone in my room and thought my slide phone in 8th grade made me the coolest person to ever walk the Earth.

I never had Instagram to tell me how I needed to look or what I needed to be doing. I did not deal with the stress and privileges of social media until I was 14-15 yrs old. I just got to be a kid who thought a cardboard box was a spaceship.

I am no way trashing those younger than me or saying my thoughts apply to all of them; I am simply saying we grew up in very different worlds. These thoughts grew into a very long conversation with my mother.

We started talking about the amazing imagination I had as a kid. I was the boss of the Pre-School 'luncha-bunch' and the neighborhood kids. I made up all sorts of crazy games, inventions and ways to entertain myself which made me pretty popular until about 5th grade when most kids started "hanging out" instead of "playing," which I was just not having.

I remember playing super-hero, spy, boot camp, Halloweentown (based on the iconic movie) and other crazy games I made up with my sister and my friends. I loved playing outside. Things like iPhones or iPads didn't exist in my mind until I was in high school, and even then I'd much rather read a book or play a card game than scroll through Twitter.

Sure, I sometimes played my Gameboy or PS2, and I loved watching the Disney Channel, but I didn't rely on them to entertain me. I was 100% able to entertain myself no matter what the circumstances. I could create a 'spy device' with a pencil, a paperclip and string (thanks Nancy Drew). I was perfectly content with paper and crayons at a restaurant.

My fear is that kids today don't have any imagination. I think the overuse technology robs them of really being kids at all. I rarely see the younger kids in my neighborhood outside. I watch the younger kids in my life have absolutely no idea how to entertain themselves without their iPhone or some sort of screen.

What happened to imagination?

Technology is great. It keeps people connected, spreads information and helps us in so many ways, but I fear it has gone too far. I think it halts child development, stomps creativity and encourages conformity. Nothing breaks my heart more than entire families at dinner tables out to eat with iPads up to their face.

Devices meant to connect and help us create have caused disconnect and lack of imagination. In my opinion, if we don't limit the use of technology for kids they will never learn. They will never hold an actual book, make up their own game or build the social skills they need to function and have independent thought.

We need to use technology responsibly around the younger people in our lives because they look up to us. Put your phone down at the dinner table, play a board game with your family and go outside and play "make-believe" with the kiddos in your life. They deserve to have a carefree and imaginative childhood.