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Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood

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Carol Gardens
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
I grew up in the 60s (yes! old!) and although many kids ran around in the fresh air, others spent most of their free time sitting stupified in front of a little black and white TV, eating bologna sandwich on puffy white Wonder bread... PS: Big dif was that we would watch *anything* since there were fewer channels. I recall watching shows meant for farmers at 6:30 AM.
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HurtsSoGood
10/07/09

@Carol Gardens: Back then, *anything* was usually more worthwhile to watch than the pap that passes for today's programming. I'm about this< close to just canceling the damn satellite TV and using the proceeds on some more worthy recreational pursuits, with blackjack...and hookers...
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BadUncle
10/07/09

@Carol Gardens: Half the fun was trying to squeeze entertainment out of static-smothered UHF channels like milk from a barren cow.
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LUV_TRUK
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
I'm oooooold! And I'm not happy! And I don't like things now compared to the way they used to be. All this progress -- phooey! In my day, we didn't have these cash machines that would give you money when you needed it. There was only one bank in each state -- it was open only one hour a year. And you'd get in line, seventeen miles long, and the line became an angry mob of people -- fornicators and thieves, mutant children and circus freaks -- and you waited for years and by the time you got to the teller, you were senile and arthritic and you couldn't remember your own name. You were born, got in line, and ya died! And that's the way it was and we liked it!

Life was simpler then. There wasn't all this concern about hy-giene! It my days, we didn't have Kleenex. When you turned seventeen, you were given the family handkerchief. ... It hadn't been washed in generations and it stood on its own ... filled with diseases and swarmin' with flies. ... If you tried to blow your nose, you'd get an infection and your head would swell up and turn green and children would burst into tears at the sight o' ya! And that's the way it was and we liked it!

Life was a carnival! We entertained ourselves! We didn't need moooovin' pitchurrrres. In my day, there was only one show in town -- it was called "Stare at the sun!" ... That's right! You'd sit in the middle of an open field and stare up at the sun till your eyeballs burst into flames! And you thought, "Oh, no! Maybe I shouldn't've stared directly into the burning sun with my eyes wide open." But it was too late! Your head was on fire and people were roastin' chickens over it. ... And that's the way it was and we liked it!

Progress?! Flobble-de-flee! In my day, when we were angry and frustrated, we just said, "Flobble-de-flee!" 'cause we were idiots and we didn't know what else to say! Just a bunch o' illiterate Cro-Magnons, blowin' on crusty handkerchiefs, waitin' in lines for our head to burst into flame and that's the way it was and we liked it!
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res ipsa pasta
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
Stories like this make me not want to bring children into this world.
Why learn how to play a musical instrument when you can play a virtual musical instrument on Guitar Hero? Why play baseball for the fun of it outside when you can play it on your Wii. I can't for the life of me think why a five year old needs a cell phone. Can't they use the phone at the school if they need to call for an emergency? And if it's not an emergency, does the kid really need its own cell phone?
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Magister
10/07/09

@res ipsa pasta: My kids don't have a console yet, but...

Why can't you learn to play both a real and a virtual instrument, and why should a child not be allowed to play virtual baseball, when it's been raining for days or when the other neighborhood kids are busy?
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res ipsa pasta
10/07/09

@Magister: it's not to say that they can't do (or shouldn't be allowed to do) both, but I'd say it's a rarity. Even people in their 30s I know would rather play the video game than, you know, learn to play a real guitar. Or play a ball game outside.
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Magister
10/07/09

@res ipsa pasta: If it's any consolation by the time I was in my thirties, I never considered learning an instrument and had no interest in playing ball, either.

Of course, my kids play organized and disorganized sports and games; they take art, music and dance lessons; they belong to clubs, have friends, go outside and they're given access to a computer.

Kids are blessed with having more time.
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Edited by Magister at 10/07/09 12:11 PM Magister was starred Magister was unstarred

res ipsa pasta
10/07/09

@Magister: thank you for giving me some hope.
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son of spam
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
Kids today - I deserve to be shot for even putting those two words together - have so many more paths to wander, some of which are dangerous, most of which are not. Can we stop with the "Good old days" grandpa shit, please?
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celery
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
Kids are growing up in a different world than the ones their parents came up in? Say it ain't so :X
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Jsmoke
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
I'm sure the same things were said when Atari and the Commodore 64 were in style. That's when I was a youngster, and yeah I liked the new technology. But I also had parents that would keep a hawks eye on me to make sure I grew up a happy, well adjusted individual. That's what a lot of kids today don't have. Don't blame the technology, which is what all these fear mongering reports do. Video games and cell phones don't screw kids up for life. It's apathetic parenting that does.
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Carol Gardens
10/07/09

@Jsmoke: Wow. Did I waste a lot of time playing PONG.
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Swordfish
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
Recently I told a parent that my nine-year-old does not have any handheld electronic games, only recently learned how to go on the internet (thanks to a playdate at a friend's house) and is only allowed on one benign site, and until seven didn't know how to turn on the TV and is never allowed to without asking permission. And we don't have a TV at the country place. (yes, country place) "So, you shelter your kid," I was told, "She lives in a bubble." I said, no, in fact, she dreams and imagines, runs around and climbs trees, picks apples and goes fishing, plays piano and makes up songs, sings, has an art cabinet with her own materials and makes things whenever she wants, and plays with other children OUTSIDE. It's your kid, starring at someone else's creativity on an electronic screen in the house who lives in the bubble.
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WackoJacko
10/07/09

@Swordfish: though to be fair, some of those bubble boys and girls will grow up to write for television.
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If_I_Had_a_Poodle
10/07/09

@Swordfish: same. we have dvd's and a screen, no tv channels. i pay more for just cable broadband than if i had the channels. and pbskids and sesamestreet online are on the list. it's better much much better than walking in and seeing the kids watching fox new crazies screaming, as happened when i went to pickup from a playdate
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kimsama
10/07/09

@WackoJacko: That explains so much.
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Magister
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
Like a lot of parents, I keep the family computer in a common room, but I rely very heavily on Google SafeSearch, the old Yahooligans, Disney, Nick, PBS and the unregistered user restrictions on Hulu.

Of course my youngest doesn't really get to go unaccompanied on the internet, but my daughter easily knows more than all of her friends and she's even more tech-savvy than some of her teachers.
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nathanst
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
A well connected society filled with people incapable of deep thought?

The new peasantry awaits their lords.
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Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
While for the most part I agree, I also feel compelled to argue why some parents allow this to happen.

My seven year old has a cell phone. Why? Well, because I fight to keep up with the economy and work long hours. I want her to have a way to get a hold of me and vice-versa should an emergency arise. It doesn't help that I work an hour away.

She also has her own laptop. I think it's great that at a young age she is acquiring skills that are necessary nowadays. I hope she decides to be a programmer. I think the real issue in this arena is the lack of knowledge of parents and not knowing how to properly monitor and filter what their children are doing.

She also has a Nintendo DS. I really don't have an excuse for this other than sometimes not wanting to make a trek to the park. The days of allowing kids out on their own are over.
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Magister promoted this comment Edited by Shamoononon: I shave my legs. at 10/07/09 2:03 AM

Magister
10/07/09

@Shamoononon: I shave my legs.: Seriously. Nowadays, you can't let kids go to their friend's houses until you've had at least one chaperoned playdate; Kids can't really run free because not only is it often not the safest choice, but there's not a lot for young tweeners to do and don't even get me started on the playground. Though thankfully, as I'm sure you'll soon find, the equipment is usually designed only for the very young.
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Shamoononon: I shave my legs.
10/07/09

@Magister: It seems nowadays, that unless you are both somehow the Siamese twin and the parent of a child, you are ostracized by people who can't own up to their own weaknesses as parents.
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Magister
10/07/09

@Shamoononon: I shave my legs.: It's also kind of neat, how access to technology is seen by some as an either/or proposition.

I mean it gets dark now, what around seven o'clock? Soon it'll be closer to 5:30 and you can get your kids only so many lessons and organized activities, otherwise you risk over-scheduling them, but somehow an hour watching Dora or playing with their Webkinz makes you a bad parent?

And please don't let us forget about the do-at-home, twenty minutes a day math enrichment programs some schools arrange for their kids from Stanford.
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Edited by Magister at 10/07/09 4:54 AM Magister was starred Magister was unstarred

nozer
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
We're just getting these kids ready to live in the William Gibson novel that is the future.

Either that or that is the only future that could arise when a whole generation's only reality is virtual or mediated.
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If_I_Had_a_Poodle
10/07/09

@nozer: i am for it
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mexiback
10/07/09

In reply to Childhood is Dead, Long Live Childhood
This is what happens when children get unlimited access to technology:
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