Growing up back then to now

Growing up, we played jump rope, sports, hopscotch, ran, rode bikes, and used our imagination. Something as simple as a box could be a car, a spaceship, a house, anything you wanted it to be. I didn't know a kid who didn't spend most of their time outside. As long as you were home before the street lights came on. I may be biased to say my generation is probably the last generation that were real kids. I can say, with an honest heart, that I'm glad and relieved that I grew up in the decade I did.

Today, instead of getting a car-seat or a blanket from the hospital the babies should automatically just come with a tablet instead. At such a young age, kids are presented with cell phones and tablets to keep them occupied instead of playing as a child should. They even have them already on the tables in restaurants. When I was I child, we knew how to behave in public. Yes, it preoccupies them but it doesn't teach them anything constructive. It also results in poor social skills and behavior as they grow up.

You don't have to take the CAHSEE exam to pass high school, take any of those state tests, everything is handed to you and it's making our brains turn into goo. I recall watching an episode of Ellen DeGeneres where she sort of tested a young Gen Z girl and a baby boomer about things from their time and compared them. The items and questions asked I thought were so simple and easy to answer but the young couldn't answer. She couldn't even tell time on an analog clock (regular clock). Kids struggle to read cursive, they probably can't even read a map and have poor English because they use slang such as "throwing shade" or "let's get lit" in their daily life. People are used to spelling in shorthand for text messages, they forget how to properly write actual words. I'm not saying all technology is bad, remotes are nice because now we don't have to get up to change the channel. Google is helpful instead of manually researching something using encyclopedias. Microsoft word is great instead of using typewriters because now if you make a mistake you can just delete it instead of rewriting the whole thing all over again. You rarely see kids playing outside, you always see people including adults on their phones at the dinner table versus actually socializing with each other. Too many people just "absolutely have to take a picture or selfie" instead of enjoying the moment.

People are becoming lazy, not as intellectual, and essentially not human anymore. It's hard to even date nowadays because you don't meet someone organically anymore. You meet them through dating apps or some type of social media now. I miss how things used to be and I think there should be more of a balance between the two worlds.

If this is how they are now, does anyone ever wonder what things or people will be like in the next decade or some time in the distant future? Thanks to COVID-19 we're subconsciously showing kids affection is no longer okay. Raising a child today is concerning. There will be a point in time when my entire generation will be gone and what the world will be left with are selfish, poor-mannered, socially awkward, self-entitled people. Is that how you want your child to grow up? Yes, I know it's up to the parents to influence that and show them otherwise but what if they just continue the toxic cycle of how they were raised? It breaks my heart, but instead of complaining about what's wrong with them, maybe I should ask what can we do to improve this problem?