Slashdot Mirror
Consumer Electronics Causing 'Death of Childhood'?
An anonymous reader writes "Top children's authors, including best-seller Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials), have written an open letter to the British Government claiming that consumer electronics have brought about the death of childhood. They say that children desperately need 'real play (as opposed to sedentary, screen-based entertainment), first-hand experience of the world they live in'. The letter writers also state that children have lost their imaginations because they are, 'pushed by market forces to act and dress like mini-adults and exposed via the electronic media to material which would have been considered unsuitable for children even in the very recent past.' The article asks, 'is modern life too fast for the supple human mind? Do children have a rev counter we're red-lining by exposing them to so much input?'" So what does Slashdot think? Are kids growing up too fast nowadays because of them new-fangled technologies?
Please don't feel obligated to take this post personally if in your estimation it does not apply to you in reality. I have only your post to base my post on, and you invite reply by posting on a public forum.
Instead of justifying and rationalizing ('safer' neighborhoods have pedo's,etc) why not raise your children in an environment where it is not total shit? Is it too much to ask for you to sacrifice whatever small advantage you gain from living in Oakland so that your children can play ball and run around?
I understand that you live there for "some reason"TM, but you might want to consider moving the hell out. Of course, if you don't mind the crack dealers and prostitutes, maybe your kids will grow up used to them as well. After all, when venturing into a park, it is normal to have a paranoid fear of drug addicts, and before going down the slide most people instinctively know from childhood to check for used needles or sleeping crackheads (or crack head turds).
Of course you no doubt live in a wealthier neighborhood, which consists of larger and more expensive houses with crack dealers in front.
Keep making excuses though. This could turn into a fun game! How much can tepples rationalize in one thread...
I'm glad my kids play nintendo all day and never go outside, there's crack dealers out there and it's dangerous!
I can't afford to move! Oh, it's basically cheaper to live everywhere but where I actually live?
But I *bike* everywhere, so it is impossible to move away from the city.
Preview: My job is nearby, so it would be logically impossible to live anywhere but in the crack infested whoredome.
Why don't you just admit it isn't as bad as you made it out to be?
I just knew someone (or multiple someones) would regurgitate that or some variant - it's always easier to do so than to think.
The fact is - if you stop and think and pay attention you'll notice the younger generation(s) of today *are* qualitively different. I never saw a six year old dance like a stripper (while being encouraged by her parents) in public until three years ago. The concept of a 'slacker' didn't even exist in the 1970's. My high school in the 1970's had exactly 2 girls get pregnant during my senior year - the exact same school and roughly the same student body size (around 1400) has in the upcoming senior class nearly 100 students who have already had children! etc... etc.. Examples abound if care to look.