Australian Lab Notes - February 2011 - Steve Turvey

Grumpy old Men and the “Good old days”

I’m sure it’s a law of nature that the older generation always laments the good old days. I’m sure we inevitably view the up-and-coming younger generations to be in some way inferior and spoilt when compared to ourselves.

Monty Python summed it up perfectly in their Four Yorkshiremen comedy sketch when, explaining how they once had it tough, one man “lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank,” you can see the full transcript.

In some ways, sadly, I have to agree - but, and it’s a big BUT, the blame lies squarely at our own feet!

I look around at kids today, especially those in early primary school with mobile phones - in 99 percent of these cases I’ll argue it’s a load of tosh that these kids have a phone for their “own security”. These children have phones because somewhere along the line, one kid that really needed brought one to school, and it quickly became a “must have” status symbol with the other kids.

One of my own kids - at the grand old age of 8 was complaining that everyone else had one. He was called “lame” and other less kind words because he didn’t have one yet.

The list goes on, of course. If you don’t have a PS3 or Wii, you’re lame. If you have Target-brand runners rather than Nikes, you’re lame. If you don’t have customised handle bars on your scooter and some sort of branded hat, you’re lame as well.

I constantly come back to the fact that these kids would have no impetus, and would not even ask for any of this stuff, if no parents bought their kids this stuff.

And the problems that go with this new technology driven stuff has become a lot more complicated. Bullying is no longer just physical bullying, but now it’s via TXT, Twitter and Facebook. It goes outside the school yard now and reaches right into the home, 24 hours a day. It’s well documented how much teenagers struggle to manage their digital persona, let alone an 8 or 10 year old who is far more emotionally immature.

I’m concerned that in a bizarre way, we are actually dumbing down our kids. Sure they will be wizards with computers and electronic gizmos, but I’m suspicious they might not have an opportunity to develop simple patience and imagination. How often have you heard a kid say “I’m bored”, and your suggestion that they read a book or go outside to play is met with “you’ve got to be kidding”.

I know how this sounds, but I’m adamant that reading a book or playing outside with imaginary space aliens does in fact fire up and develop a child’s imagination, creativity and flexibility. It’s something I feel is lacking in many children. A great example is the average car trip made without an iPod or a DVD player. So many kids today are bored out of their brains. What happened to the skill of just looking out the window and imagining?

Personally, I make an effort to spend time with my kids and try to manage the time they spend in front of the TV, PC, Wii and other gadgets. Thankfully, it has now reached the point where they can self-regulate and choose to play outside on their own. They also now read and can happily sit in a car on a long trip, enjoying the scenery and their own musings.

I know this all sounds like a case of “when I was young”, but the point is that amongst the vast benefits of technology are many less obvious drawbacks. When the impact of technology is social, and when it affects our children during such formative years, the cause for care and careful parenting just has to be greater.