I spent a week of my winter break at my sister's place. She recently moved to this town called Gordon's Bay (on the eastern coastline of the Western Cape in South Africa-for any non-South African readers), and two of its attractions are 1. it is by the sea, and 2. it is close to my brother, who lives in Strand (also a little coastal town about 5 minutes from Gordon's Bay).
One morning, we were at my brother's place. He lives in the house we stayed in before he got married (the home I was born in) and so it always feels like home for me. As a child, we spent almost every holiday there. So that particular morning I was sitting on the front steps of his house. It was about 10am, and it was a beautifully clear day (which is a treat for us Capetonians in the winter).
But I saw no children outside.
The place looks exactly the same...this road looked the same as it always has...and yet, it is not.
I found myself really missing my pre-teen years, because we spent so much of our free time there. And come rain or shine, day or night, we were outside. We hated being in the house.
And it got me thinking- Technology, for all the wonderful conveniences it has afforded us today, has really stunted the development of children. I was not the most outstanding person on the sports field, but, even now at almost 30, I am still quite co-ordinated. Why? Because we weren't stuck inside in front of the DSTV, X-Box, Playstation or computer. Everyone under the age of 17 met outside every single day. When it was summer, we played everything from cricket to hide-and-seek. Come to think of it, when it was winter, we did the same. When it was Super 12 season, we played rugby. When there was World Cup soccer on, we played soccer. When it was Wimbledon, we played tennis. We invented games when we got bored of the usual ones.
More importantly though, we communicated and socialized with each other, face to face. Not through Twitter, MySpace or Facebook.
We didn't know what cellphones were.
So, innovation or evil? RIght now, more an evil than an innovation.
In my opinion, technology is the direct cause for us breeding lazy, obese, unco-ordinated and anti-social youth.
I shudder at the thought that these kids are going to be our leaders tomorrow.
One morning, we were at my brother's place. He lives in the house we stayed in before he got married (the home I was born in) and so it always feels like home for me. As a child, we spent almost every holiday there. So that particular morning I was sitting on the front steps of his house. It was about 10am, and it was a beautifully clear day (which is a treat for us Capetonians in the winter).
But I saw no children outside.
The place looks exactly the same...this road looked the same as it always has...and yet, it is not.
I found myself really missing my pre-teen years, because we spent so much of our free time there. And come rain or shine, day or night, we were outside. We hated being in the house.
And it got me thinking- Technology, for all the wonderful conveniences it has afforded us today, has really stunted the development of children. I was not the most outstanding person on the sports field, but, even now at almost 30, I am still quite co-ordinated. Why? Because we weren't stuck inside in front of the DSTV, X-Box, Playstation or computer. Everyone under the age of 17 met outside every single day. When it was summer, we played everything from cricket to hide-and-seek. Come to think of it, when it was winter, we did the same. When it was Super 12 season, we played rugby. When there was World Cup soccer on, we played soccer. When it was Wimbledon, we played tennis. We invented games when we got bored of the usual ones.
More importantly though, we communicated and socialized with each other, face to face. Not through Twitter, MySpace or Facebook.
We didn't know what cellphones were.
So, innovation or evil? RIght now, more an evil than an innovation.
In my opinion, technology is the direct cause for us breeding lazy, obese, unco-ordinated and anti-social youth.
I shudder at the thought that these kids are going to be our leaders tomorrow.
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