I have been reflecting on my childhood lately, as I watch my grandchildren grow. I can see how my childhood was so different and then start to wonder, are kids today missing out on important experiences that will help them learn, grow and become stronger adults?
One big difference is the fact that technology is everywhere today! Its interwoven into our daily lives: work, school, social, and home. Technology has advanced our society in many areas which is a great thing, but, how much is too much? How is technology affecting upcoming generations? Especially now with Artificial Intelligence becoming more of a reality in every day life. Life just seems to…easy.
As younger generations start working alongside us “OGs”, Old Guys for those who are unfamiliar with the slang term, the difference seems profound. I am a Gen Xer. You know, that forgotten generation squeezed between the Boomers and the Gen Y and upcoming Zs. My generation didn’t grow up with all the conveniences of today but the technological boom was well on it’s way. We were the first generation with computers in school, and we’ve lived through a myriad of technological advances. Most people of my generation aren’t tech illiterate. I love it!
Comparing our childhoods, though? We were much different than those who have grown up with the proverbial high tech / coddled spoon in their mouths. I felt as if we experienced life in a very different way. Experiences and opportunities for learning were hands on in every aspect. Here are 4 reasons I think upcoming generations have missed or will be missing opportunities to learn and why it could be a bad thing as they navigate adulthood.
Learning to Lose and Deal with Disappointment
Failure = a lesson learned and growth. From my prospective, it doesn’t seem like failure, true failure, is allowed anymore. I’ve always believed that failure helps us grow. It helps us become stronger. It sucks but life isn’t easy. Learning to deal with failure, setbacks, disappointments is necessary in order to live a healthy, productive life.
As an example, I truly don’t remember there ever being anything like participation ribbons, or trophies when I was growing up. If you didn’t come in 1st, 2nd or 3rd you didn’t get a thing. You got to deal with going home empty handed. This actually helped us learn to cope with disappointment and loss. We didn’t get praised for losing. This forced us to deal with the fact that if we wanted to achieve a goal, we had to have determination, resilience and learn from our failure.
This may seem harsh but it pushes us to work harder for what we want, grow from the mistakes we make, and push ourselves to achieve our goals. If you are awarded for mediocrity, you will never strive to be better. Why would you? If failure isn’t owned, then the person that failed will never learn to cope, take responsibility, or move on.
Learning without the help of computers / technology
Technology was not even close to where it is today back when I was in school. For this reason, learning wasn’t as easy in my opinion. Math was done with not even calculators at times. In addition, you couldn’t Google the answer to an Algebra problem or Physics question. Research papers were an adventure, not just an assignment. We couldn’t just pop on the internet to take advantage of thousands of source documents at our fingertips.
Here is how a research paper was done in a nutshell. Initially, trips to the library were made were we had to figure out how to find the right books using the Dewey Decimal system. Then, as we scoured the shelves, we would pray someone else hadn’t already checked out the books we needed. We still had to cite our sources, and not plagiarize, while writing our paper after combing through books, and encyclopedias. We didn’t have spell check which meant trying to find the word you didn’t know how to spell in a dictionary. The final paper was either handwritten, which would cause fingers to cramp up miserably for hours, or, if you were lucky, typewritten. Persistence, ingenuity and lots of reading were what we learned. The struggle was real!
Learning to Socialize in person
Admittedly, I confess that I love the social media apps. With family and friends scattered everywhere, it’s the best way to keep in contact. In spite of that fact, I don’t want to have my face in my phone 24/7 reading status. I want real person to person interactive conversations. I want to actually laugh with someone, not just see an emoji.
The definition of social media in my day meant passing paper notes in class. Kids had to talk in person, or on the telephone. No text messages, or fancy apps to contact your friends at all hours of the day and night. If you called your friend’s house, it better not be after a certain time of night, and you usually had to talk to the parents before you got to talk to your buddy. You were connected to the wall and could only go as far as the phone cord would allow you to walk. Going to the movies, or out to eat, we talked…to each other…face to face.
In addition, meeting new people meant going up to them and starting a conversation; possibly being rejected, in public. We learned how to communicate. Kids in my day figured out how to tell who would be a kindred spirit with body language, facial expressions, tone, etc. It’s amazing how many younger people are socially awkward and have trouble conveying their thoughts. Some can’t even complete a full sentence. They just kind of trail off and I’m left wondering if I should go hunt down the end of their thought or abandon ship while I have the chance.
Learning to occupy ourselves
Gen X kids back in the “day” had to learn to occupy ourselves. There weren’t 24 hour cartoon channels. Early Saturday mornings were the only times we watched them, or Sunday night Disney movies. No YouTube. No TikTok. No cell phones. No tablets. We didn’t have video games at home till the late 70’s and most homes still didn’t have them like homes do today. Kids saved up quarters and headed to the mall in order to spend hours at the arcade.
Furthermore, our parents didn’t allow us to be in the house all day. Weekends, summer days / nights and as much time as possible after school were spent outside. Riding bikes, skating, exploring creeks, catching fireflies, playing kickball. There were always options! We dared not tell our parents we were bored at any time or additional chores were given to us. Our parents yelled or whistled outside when they wanted us to come home; otherwise, we were home when the street lights came on. We didn’t run in and out of the house. Thirsty? We turned on the garden hose and drank our fill. Hot? You found some shade. Cold? You had better have bundled up before you went out.
At the end of the day, we’d come home sweaty, with flushed cheeks, filthy from head to toe and a big grin on our faces. Worn out, hungry and filled with memories of our childhood treasures for the day.
Conclusion
If you are a parent, grandparent, or have a child in your life, make some memories with them. Have them explore and play the old school way. Get them off the videos. Make memories. They’ll forget the videos they watched and the text messages that were sent. They won’t forget making mud pies, chasing frogs, rolling down a hill in the grass, or playing in the snow. Take them places where they can experience life: touch it, feel it, smell it, taste it. Help them up when they fail but teach them how to be strong by allowing them to experience disappointment. Help the next generations learn the old school way.
Dedicated to my boys who gifted me more wonderful memories than I could imagine. Thank you for letting me share my awe and imagination with you as you grew into the young men you are today.
