Fast Fading Childhood

What's with kids these days? When I was a kid I was taught to respect elders and to be polite. I never talked back to my parents (still don't as a matter of fact) and I never had the attitude that teens are famed for. But, my cousin who is 13 is turning out to be a prime example of bratty teens and why they're such a pain. As always, I have a theory on why things are now the way that they are.

Although there are several factors that contribute to kids these day being a nightmare, in this post i'll focus on one major trend that was different when I was growing up: entertainment.

I think I'm the last of the generation that was told to play outside when we had to make up our own games. Tying ribbons around my forehead, my childhood friends and I would prance around pretending to be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (I was always Michael Angelo), we'd climb trees, play in the dirt and come home sun kissed and tired but oh so happy.

When we spent time indoors it was to watch wholesome shows like Small Wonder or Full House that reeked of 90s humor, these days there's a totally different way kids entertain themselves and I think all it does is breed brats.

When kids 'play' they're glued to glowing screens that require minimum physical activity, are a strain on the eyes and are quite addictive. Sitting in front of a computer for hours or with a digital game in their hands doesn't allow their imagination to stretch the way mine did. And though I hated being called back home, it'd been easier to pull out your own tooth (sans pain meds) than to pry a kid off of Facebook.

Another reason why I think my cousin had developed an intolerable attitude is because of shows that target her age groups. I don't know the names of these shows but having a new sector in entertainment for pre- teens is having a negative effective on my once sweet cousin.

Picking up the sass from the bitchy girls in movies and shows staring Miley Cyrus, Selena something and those other 18 and/or younger stars isn't good for kids. With shows that portray an unrealistic and highly glamorized life for teens, I believe that the future generations are picking up on all the wrong things in life.

While,of course, globalization has it's merits, bringing shows like The Sweet Life of Zack and Cody (I think that's what it's called) and that wretched Hannah Montana is doing nothing but turning teens like my cousins into brats with no regard for respect. Not only are these shows a far cry from reality, they over make-up young kids and make them out to be much older than they are in thinking, speech, and attitude.

While my cousin tries to flip her hair and try to act 'cool', I try to preserve the childhood she's denying herself because things like negative body image, bitchy people, so much attitude and being selfish is aplenty in the adult world. So until all these things come flooding, those who are able to influence younger people should do our part as responsible adults so that kids can just be kids.

Saani has no real goals and aspirations but she sees opportunity in everything and goes with the flow. This is probably because she loves exploring and discovering. She writes for fun but for the same reason she also cooks, reads, and spends a lot of time on random websites that offer a chance to learn all sorts of tid-bits on life.


http://www.parakhi.com/blogs/2011/12/25/fast-fading-childhood