We as a society and the parents who have shaped and are shaping our current “2017 World” have allowed the ease of technology use to take precedence over the importance of spending time in and with Mother Nature. Because children growing up these days have been exposed to such handy technological equipment, they are being set up for lives and passions centered around technology instead of being forced to use their brains to entertain themselves and interact with each other.
I have been thinking a lot recently about our latest advances in personal technology (smartphones, computers, tablets, etc.) as I observe my siblings growing up. Though my sister (age ten) and brother (age six) and I are all growing up within a short span on time, what we do with our free time as children could not be/have been more different. It is the truth that my siblings are naturally more drawn to being inside than I am and was as a child; despite this, I hold with high regard the idea that the greatest factor in this difference is the technological advances we have made within the past ten years.
When I was growing up (we’ll call “childhood” ages 0-13), the use of smartphones, tablets, and modern advanced laptops was not commonplace. We bought our first iPad, the device my siblings use most often, when my brother was two, my sister was six and I was thirteen. When looking at the very different relationship I have with nature from my sister’s, it is not surprising to me that the iPhone came out the same year she was born. My younger siblings have grown up immersed in a world of portable, convenient technology, in which nearly every tween, teenager and adult is on social media of some sort. While some may argue that my siblings are just more reserved or indoorsy people ~by nature~, I strongly believe that the fact that when I was a child, technology was not nearly so prevalent and widely used has had a strong influence on view of nature. Because I did not have an iPad to pick up and engross myself in for hours each day as a child, I developed a connection with the outdoors and nature that kids are not encouraged to create so much now.
It seems that our modern technology is just too tempting and it is nearly impossible to resist allowing ourselves to fall victim to the temptation of sitting around exercising our right thumbs all day instead of our minds. Most children and adults alike do not choose to expose themselves to nature and the outside world because of the addicting grip technology and social media have on their free time. Seeing how great of an influence technology and social media have on my desire to spend time in one of my favorite things in life, nature, has made me choose to remove myself from social media and reconnect with the incredible natural world we are lucky enough to exist within.
Danica, this was a very interesting read due to your comparison between your childhood and that of your siblings. I especially found it intriguing when you stated the ages of your siblings in relation to what technological devices were growing popular. Looking at the big picture, I agree with you that children today have very different experiences with nature than we did at their age. There are also many different factors that play into the differences between our childhoods and theirs, with technology at the top of the list. Something that we need to keep in mind is that we are still considered "children" by adults. How we are currently going about our days is not the same as how our parents and our teachers did when they were our age. Every generation goes about different childhoods, we just need to be able to adapt and accept it.
ReplyDeleteI love how you directly connected this technology issue to children, as it is a rising problem with our youth being too connected to the digital world. I, too, have a very young member of my family (about 4 years old) who seems to be more connected to YouTube videos than the outside world. When we were growing up, being outside was encouraged and technology was discouraged for use in long amounts of time. Now, all of us seem to be in the digital world 24/7. It is great how you cover all of the points between children and technology. Would it be a different world today if today's youth wasn't so attached to technology? Great post!!
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