Growing up we always hear our parents and grandparents say, "When I was a kid..." I never thought that as a college student I would be thinking the exact same thing.
You see, many adults criticize us high school and college aged kids for spending too much time with technology. However, I think a good majority of us actually balance our time with technology quite well. Yes, there are the kids who cannot step away from their phones, TV, or video games, but that does not include a great deal of us. I made this realization just the other day when I saw a bunch of kids out in the quad throwing a football around and two girls flying a kite on the first nice day in a while. I made this realization when my friends made Kan Jam out of cardboard boxes and went and played it in the snow. I made this realization when I saw hundreds of footprints in the snow around campus after the first good snowfall.
The thing is, most of us high school and college aged kids LIKE to be active. We want to go outside and do something rather than sit around on our phones 24/7. I'm not saying that we do not love checking social media, binge watching our favorite shows on Netflix, or crushing a zombie apocalypse. What I'm saying is that while we value those things, we also value the time we get to spend outdoors being active.
Honestly, its not the late teens to early twenties crowd that I'd be worried about. You know the kids I'm talking about. The kids that grew up riding their bikes down the street for hours, playing in the yard with their friends until it was dark, and tearing up the kickball field at recess only to be interrupted by the sharp whistle that let them know it was time to go back to class. To be completely truthful, and maybe somewhat harsh, we understand what it means to be active while still having fun, unlike most younger kids today.
The kids I'd be worried about are the five year olds that have their own iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Not to criticize their parents, but they may be the root of the problem. I understand that it's easy to give a child an iPad to play games on so they don't get bored. Why not send them outside in the yard to play instead? That's what my parents did to me and I turned out just fine. The problem today is that we give children technology as an easy way out for ourselves. We'd rather let them play on the iPhone so we don't have to make sure they stay safe outside. Sadly, that is what our society has come to.
I know I speak for many kids my age when I say I'm thankful that I've already done most of my growing up. I'm so lucky to have grown up in a time when running around throughout the neighborhood without supervision wasn't a big deal. I'm thankful for the scraped knees from falling off my bike, the hurt ego from losing a game of four square, and the grass stains from the (extremely) competitive kickball games. I'd much rather have grown up with all of that than with glasses because my eyes were ruined from looking at a screen, the newest iPhone, and a Netflix subscription.
Unfortunately, kids today aren't even given this option. I don't want to have to say to the kids across the street, "You know, when I was a kid, I went outside and played games with my friends for hours on end," and see the shocked expressions on their faces. I'd much rather them understand how much fun a little activity can be.
You see, the problem is not the technology. It's not the high school and college aged kids obsessed with social media. The problem starts with the 5-year-old being given an iPad for Christmas and ends with all of us not caring about the consequences of this action. So here's to the kids who lived for scraped knees and sweaty foreheads...may you eventually teach your children the same lessons.
