Kids are watching more garbage than any of us. We all watch a lot of garbage, but we also know on some level that it’s bad for us, and we can exercise restraint based on that wisdom. Kids don’t have that.
Safe to say that kids are watching more media than they ever have, because we all are. We’re all looking at more screens more than ever. It’s ubiquitous at this point, quiet room full of people with everyone’s head down in a device. Go any place where you have to wait. I’ve seen a pedestrian walk to a corner, can’t immediately cross, the phone comes out. They kill 15 seconds waiting for the light to change.
That’s just to say, the kids are following our lead, which is nothing new. It’s also not new for parents to be somewhat inattentive to their children. Parents are people too, they don’t wanna watch you all day, they want their own screen time! So kids these days end up having a lot of unsupervised screen time.
Before my time, apparently unsupervised kids would spend their days outside. In my day (the 90s) we went in the yard. We had a treehouse my dad built, and under it, a big mound of dirt. I loved that mound of dirt. We had an above ground pool (not to brag) and I would fill a bucket full of pool water and pour it on the mound of dirt to watch all the little rivulets run down, carving lines into it. ponds would form at bottom of the mound, slowly chlorinating the yard. Sometimes I’d get my toys into the mix, try to knock them over with deluges, or bury them with landslides.
But let’s be real, it wasn’t just the mound of dirt that entertained me. I loved video games. I played the first two levels of Super Mario World hundreds of times, never advanced, never cared. I crapped my pants playing X-Men: Mutant Academy. Life was good.
I liked TV, too. We were only allowed to watch PBS (rip), so I missed out on a lot of 90s classic children cartoons. I’m not mad about it, I loved PBS. I always felt special (and poor) for not having cable.
I’ll be sad if PBS shuts down. I watched these shows almost everyday as a kid–
- Arthur
- Zoom
- The Magic School Bus
- Bill Nye The Science Guy (rip)
- The Big Comfy Couch
- Zaboomafoo
- Wishbone
- Mr. Rogers
- Sesame Street
I hope these things are preserved. If a show was funded by taxes for PBS and then PBS dissolves, what happens to the show? Is it public domain? Do the rights revert to the production company that made it? When does Disney buy it and lock it behind a paywall?
Woah I wasn’t trying to be negative here! I feel lucky that I got to grow up when that stuff was being made. It’s lucky that any of it got made at all. The world doesn’t owe us quality entertainment, we have to make it ourselves.
It makes me happy to think about parents entertaining their children, and children entertaining themselves. Doing silly voices and playing pretend. Nice to remember that entertainment isn’t all about media. Maybe as media gets worse and worse, people will consume less of it. Media should have to pass the test – is this more entertaining than a mound of dirt?
3 Comments
Scary times, they weaponize sources of comfort nowadays. It is a bombardment of cheap dopamine. Can’t blame the kids, they just got here and are supposed to be able to trust that the world doesn’t want to hurt them. When I was real little my mom tricked me into eating some unpleasant cold baked beans by calling them garbanzo beans, she used my love for Zoboomafoo (who loves garbanzo beans) against me dammit. I asked her later if those are really what garbanzo beans are and amused she said no she has never seen a garbanzo bean. I was pissed. Turns out they are really a legume, pretty much just chickpeas. Harmless really, didn’t hurt me, and I don’t know why my brain has held onto it out of all things to remember. I think it was just a childhood realization on taking in other’s words, it is tricky, lies feel true until you find out otherwise. Making up stuff isn’t always bad though, my Dad had a bedtime story he’d tell about a lonely bear who went to the flea market, it was different every time but always ended with the bear going home with a bunch of fleas and his new friends kept him so itchy he forgot about being lonely. I knew it was made up but it made me happy. Its pretty cool as people we can make up whatever we want, it is the intentions behind it that make it good or bad. Media is a wonderful thing to connect brains but the well seems to be getting more poisoned with bad intentions, nasty business, a new one will spring up soon I’m sure but will have some trouble because people are creatures of habit scared of the pain of boredom. Boredom is good though, and it doesn’t last that long. Makes you creative, you need space to make things. Kids need to be bored sometimes and so do adults. If you can figure out how to be good company to yourself it helps life be allot more Fun, and you can do better for those around you too. Kids are smart I’m sure they’ll figure it out, really my worry is those dang stubborn adults.
Waiting in line at the grocery store for 40 seconds is a blessing. 40 whole seconds where I don’t have to do anything?? magnificent!
I hold that time with cupped hands like I’m drinking from the pool with reverence like it’s the fountain of youth.
I hate the phone. I shouldn’t, Most people my age don’t.
Pressing little buttons on the screen infuriates me. I’m sick of switching back and fourth over boring apps with nothing of interest in them. I can just stand still and be free of the toil. Just enjoy waiting.
Amen. I enjoyed many of the same shows. The Big Comfy Couch was legendary, that and George Shrinks were probably my favorite as a kid. I certainly think a lot of kids are missing out these days and I feel quite bad for them considering that, in the times I find myself in now, I think back to my childhood a good bit sometimes and that former joy that I had during that time really gives me the hope and will to carry on in the present. Kids grow up fast, soon they won’t be kids, they deserve to have a good childhood foundation for the struggle that lies ahead of them. I know some people with kids who seem to do a pretty good job I think, it’s a case by case basis I guess. I’m very, very lucky to have gotten to experience the media that I did in the 2000s. Preserve what you can friends, especially if you plan on having kids, let them enjoy some of the things you did, that’s one of the best parts about having children I think.