When I watch the nightly news and read daily reports on the terrors and disruption happening in the world it makes me sad. I used to hear my parents and grandparents talk about what a ‘messed up’ world my generation was inheriting. They were right. Now as I look into my grandchildren’s eyes I wonder the same thing.
Another concern I have is how the next generation is spending their time. I see the postings and memes on social media regarding on how great it was growing up in the 70’s with the freedom to roam a neighborhood on a bicycle, climb trees and walk up to your friend’s porch and knock on the door to see if they could come outside and play. Catching lightning bugs, rolling around in the grass with your dog and experimenting with ant beds made our childhood idyllic. It seems these things don’t happen for children anymore. I watched a video of kids sharing how much time they spend playing video games and on social media and it’s astounding how saturated they are with technology. Do girls play Barbies anymore? Do boys play catch in the back yard with friends?
The fact is, without playing outside and limiting the knowledge of how the world works, parents are cutting off the kinetic and tactile learning experience. As a previous homeschool parent, I did hours and hours of research to find the best way each of my children could learn. So we had different avenues for teaching in a manner most effective. We went on field trips and gathered bacteria samples from a pond. We went to the zoo. We fished, fed the chickens and gathered eggs. Today’s child, I’m told, is more equipped to know where to find information on a search engine than actually knowing something. When my husband and I were rearing our girls, we didn’t have all of the technical advances we have today, but we had some. I did my best to limit cell phone use, video watching and was careful to monitor texting. Our family life wasn’t perfect and I’m sure I made the wrong decisions from time to time, but our children didn’t face what our grandchildren’s generation are exposed to on a daily basis which is the ability to watch educational videos, games and read social media for hours and be inundated with information which could be factually dubious and morally questionable.
An article in Psychology Today states too much screen time and not enough fun things like outside activities, playing games, unstructured, imaginative play will result in children having their brains wired in ways to make them less, not more, prepared to thrive in the new world of technology. Honestly, I cannot imagine a childhood not pretending, getting dirty, running through the neighborhood with friends. I played school, by myself in my bedroom with my stuffed animals and told myself how much fun it would be to be a teacher. I also watched my dad read the newspaper and waited for him to give me the Sunday morning cartoons section where I could read Garfield, Family Circus and Peanuts. I would swing for hours and do cartwheels in the back yard and tried to visualize who I would become. I did my best to offer our children the same atmosphere. I hope they will give our grandchildren the experiences only the outside world can offer.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Too much screen time and not enough cartwheels