There's something very disturbing going on. Something... fluffy and sterile and sanitized. Something overprotected. Kids. "Kids aren't sanitized... they're sticky!" Well, yeah. They are... but I'm talking about their lives. At least the majority of them. I'm only 24, but I've been around long enough to know that kids are getting wimpier by the decade. They're afraid of everything. Germs. Outdoors. Non-organic tomatoes...
What's going on? Since when is staying inside better than playing with your friends outside? Since when do 7 year olds carry sanitizer in their backpacks? I've met some parents that absolutely freak out when their kid goes out of the house. They call them every 15 minutes and demand the kid update their twitter status so they know what they're doing every moment. Ok, I exaggerate. It's every 20 minutes. Seriously, all my parents ever said when I went to a friends house was: "Wear a jacket. Be home at 7". The most fun I ever had as a kid was when I was climbing trees, catching grasshoppers and riding my pink huffy down the street without a helmet at an alarming speed. Now kids can't climb trees because they might get hurt. They can't catch bugs because they carry disease. Sure, they can ride a bike... if they wear so much protective gear that they could be goalie for the Avalanche.
Granted, some of these fears are legit. There's a lot more wierd diseases out there now and rapists and pre-processed meat products (now with more cow eyes!), but we should relax a tad with the kids don't you think? Let them go out and get hurt. Isn't that how we learn? What is it that Alfred says? "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."
Now, I know every generation says stuff like this. Our parents think we're too soft and lazy. Now we're saying the same thing. I'm pretty sure my dad played with toys painted with lead and my grandfather just played with rusty nails. It's how it is. I feel like the little crumb munchers are missing out on so much though. Yeah, they've got cool technology to grow up with, but will they ever know what it's like to build a tree house? How in the hell are they going to grow up and function if they're never allowed to scrape a knee or poke a dead bird in the eye?! How can they be expected to grow up and be independant when they're such pansy, obese, self-absorbed people?
Honestly, if Darwin was correct about natural selection and survival of the fittest, everyone born after 1980 would probably be dead by now. I guess we'll see what happens when I get an ankle biter of my own. "Ryan! Get back here! You didn't go through the sterilization chamber before you came back inside! Don't you give me that look or I'll take your PS 6 away for an hour! That's right, a whole hour young man!"
What's going on? Since when is staying inside better than playing with your friends outside? Since when do 7 year olds carry sanitizer in their backpacks? I've met some parents that absolutely freak out when their kid goes out of the house. They call them every 15 minutes and demand the kid update their twitter status so they know what they're doing every moment. Ok, I exaggerate. It's every 20 minutes. Seriously, all my parents ever said when I went to a friends house was: "Wear a jacket. Be home at 7". The most fun I ever had as a kid was when I was climbing trees, catching grasshoppers and riding my pink huffy down the street without a helmet at an alarming speed. Now kids can't climb trees because they might get hurt. They can't catch bugs because they carry disease. Sure, they can ride a bike... if they wear so much protective gear that they could be goalie for the Avalanche.
Granted, some of these fears are legit. There's a lot more wierd diseases out there now and rapists and pre-processed meat products (now with more cow eyes!), but we should relax a tad with the kids don't you think? Let them go out and get hurt. Isn't that how we learn? What is it that Alfred says? "Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."
Now, I know every generation says stuff like this. Our parents think we're too soft and lazy. Now we're saying the same thing. I'm pretty sure my dad played with toys painted with lead and my grandfather just played with rusty nails. It's how it is. I feel like the little crumb munchers are missing out on so much though. Yeah, they've got cool technology to grow up with, but will they ever know what it's like to build a tree house? How in the hell are they going to grow up and function if they're never allowed to scrape a knee or poke a dead bird in the eye?! How can they be expected to grow up and be independant when they're such pansy, obese, self-absorbed people?
Honestly, if Darwin was correct about natural selection and survival of the fittest, everyone born after 1980 would probably be dead by now. I guess we'll see what happens when I get an ankle biter of my own. "Ryan! Get back here! You didn't go through the sterilization chamber before you came back inside! Don't you give me that look or I'll take your PS 6 away for an hour! That's right, a whole hour young man!"
I'd heard this story a little while back, and your post made me think of it. Made me laugh.
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