The world that children are growing up in today is far different from what I remember as a kid growing up. I was born in the 1980s, which was not long ago at all. However, with the speed at which technology evolves in the present time, a lot of changes have occurred.
When I was in elementary school, I played with action figures, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Disney characters. There was also the Pogs craze and of course, Ty Beanie Babies. I can remember our first computer, it ran on MS-DOS, and the games we played were on floppy disks. I can also remember a time without the Internet. And also a time when AOL was the most popular Internet service provider.
The majority of my free time as a child was spent outdoors, weather permitting. I played with chalk, rode my bike and participated in outdoor games with neighbor kids. My friends and I went for walks and found alternate ways to occupy our time that did not involve an electronic device.
My friends and I made three-way calls on cordless phones that were twice the size of phones made in the present time. Further, my first cell phone, which was before even flip phones had been manufactured, had a grayish-green screen with black font and a four-inch retractable antenna.
Kids growing up in the world today have been exposed to a much different world. They have always lived in a world with the Internet, computers and other devices that are used on a daily basis. Their hobbies are also different and include playing video games, surfing the Internet and watching YouTube. Kids are even given smartphones, sometimes as early as elementary school.
Sure there are still many similarities, like playing with dolls, Legos and cars, but there are also many differences. While I believe technological advancements have been great for the economy and for improving the efficiency of our lives along with the world we live in, I do see some disadvantages as well. I think some important things are missing from children’s lives today, including exposure to different forms of art and music. I also think that communicating electronically so frequently hinders social skills. But, regardless of my opinion, this is our world and after only living on it for 25 years, I can already see huge advancements in society. It will be interesting to see what children growing up now think about this topic when they reach 25.
