I have a fifteen year-old brother and he has some fifteen year-old friends. Right now it is summer vacation, and what do they do with it? Today the three of them woke up at one of their houses, played some video games and then went over to my dad's. At my dads, they turned on the tv and played Vice City on Playstation2. Once I got off an icq chat, they hopped on the computer too. They stayed on the tv for four hours, and my brother just got down with a seven hour marathon session playing some internet video game and chatting with a friend that he had hung out with earlier and that lives down the street. What's up with that?
When I was fifteen, my summers were spent playing football with my friends, running around like idiots at the mall, going to movies, and talking on the phone with our "girlfriends". Yeah, there was some playing the nintendo or on the single 386 computer that one of my friend's parents had...but it was mostly getting out of the house and doing stuff stuff that we did. But the day that I described for my brother is not that unusual. And I don't think it's that unusual for others in their teens this summer.
When I substitute taught a few years back I overheard kids mentioning the internet way too much. Not in the research way or even in an entertainment sort of way...but in a communicative way...amongst eah other. They had chatrooms set up, chatrooms for kids that went to the same school. Thoughts to my meeting my high school chums at Denny's every weekend and McDonald's during the week popped into my head...what ever happened to face to face hanging out?
I only write this because it brings me to a larger question. I have vivid memories of my childhood summers. I remember running around the neighborhood and terrorizing neighbors. I remember sneaking out and doing stuff. I remember going to the mall and playing baseball...will kids these days remember their summers? I mean, computer time, I find, becomes a void in my memory. Especially when it comes to games -- too often ten hours sometimes slipping through with nary a thought to ponder back upon. But what's this trend going to do to the kids these days when they're older and have nothing to look back at? How different are their lives going to be because of it?
When I was fifteen, my summers were spent playing football with my friends, running around like idiots at the mall, going to movies, and talking on the phone with our "girlfriends". Yeah, there was some playing the nintendo or on the single 386 computer that one of my friend's parents had...but it was mostly getting out of the house and doing stuff stuff that we did. But the day that I described for my brother is not that unusual. And I don't think it's that unusual for others in their teens this summer.
When I substitute taught a few years back I overheard kids mentioning the internet way too much. Not in the research way or even in an entertainment sort of way...but in a communicative way...amongst eah other. They had chatrooms set up, chatrooms for kids that went to the same school. Thoughts to my meeting my high school chums at Denny's every weekend and McDonald's during the week popped into my head...what ever happened to face to face hanging out?
I only write this because it brings me to a larger question. I have vivid memories of my childhood summers. I remember running around the neighborhood and terrorizing neighbors. I remember sneaking out and doing stuff. I remember going to the mall and playing baseball...will kids these days remember their summers? I mean, computer time, I find, becomes a void in my memory. Especially when it comes to games -- too often ten hours sometimes slipping through with nary a thought to ponder back upon. But what's this trend going to do to the kids these days when they're older and have nothing to look back at? How different are their lives going to be because of it?
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