Is the age old problem for parents. It used to be send them outside now you can toss a tablet or phone at them or plant them in front of a TV and problem solved.
Kids aren't different, parents are and the world is and what you expose your child to they will experience. This is on the parents, not the kids.
Kids and electronics are the challenge to this generation. Give a kid time and he/she will play on their devices. Good news is they are never bored. Bad news is they are spending less time doing other stuff, recreation or reading.
I left banking. I was not home enough to do things with my kids, and our lives were suffering because of it. My wife and I are teachers now, and it's amazing what we are able to do with the kids.
After spending time in a cabin near Yellowstone, where we had absolutely no electronics but an old VCR and an old TV to watch old western videotapes at night, the kids voted to go tent camping in the national forest. How much fun was that? It rained, but we stayed dry, and I got to spend days fishing with my girls, hiking, encouraging them to read good stuff, playing board games, etc. Two weeks straight of no electronics. When we got back they had to have their friends over and guess what we did? They all wanted to play board games all night.
I don't make near what I used to, but it's been so worth it. Thanks for sharing the video.
Just last week I gave my son some twine, a saw, and a paddle
told him he should collect a bunch of downed branches and build a raft.
He actually got one together that floated but barely. He had fun and learned some things and I'm sure next time he will do even better.
When I was a kid there were always friends in the neighborhood to explore and play with but now not so much so for my children I try and come up with things for them to do that doesn't involve video games. My kids like most like video games and if you left them they would play far too long.
I bought each one a timer and unless my wife or I say otherwise they have to limit themselves to one hour a day and they use the timer to count down their time.
It isn't easy but IMO you need to make the effort to get them outdoors doing things. Just telling them to play in the yard is fine but only goes so far. In todays world as a parent I find I have to put a little more thought and effort into ideas for things for them to do that are both fun and creative and also outdoors.
Very good video which raises some serious questions
I see kids out and about all the time. Of course the older generations will remember things fondly with a sepia tone. The more interesting exercise would have been to ask them those questions when they were kids. Their answers would have been very different.
at the National Parks in Utah and Rocky Mountain NP. One night we were in a casual place in Springdale UT (Zion NP) and a family sits down...the daughter (13 or 14 yo) with her IPAD and earphones and parents basically ignoring her. Perhaps they hiked Angels Landing earlier in the day....but it was an example of how devices have taken over our lives.
I definitely struggle with the amount of time my kids spend in front of electronic devices.
they bagged for just a little over a year ago is covered in fallen leaves. They could use more physical play, that's for sure.
But honestly, I wouldn't want my older one, who is pretty good on a climbing wall cause she's smart and light as a feather, doing the (in retrospect) risky free climbing I did as a teen on the Palisades cliffs north of the GW bridge.
My little one has been bugging me to go fishing, and that's on me that we haven't. I know a spot that's a stream at the foot of a waterfall in rainy season, that becomes isolated pool in summer, chock full of trout that inhabit that stream. Not sure it's legal to fish there, but those fish would be easy pickings for catch and release purposes, I'm pretty sure.
I think the kids converse more on their hones than play games though... With Instagram and Whats UP.
Kids aren't different, parents are and the world is and what you expose your child to they will experience. This is on the parents, not the kids.
Those devices are a blessing and a curse.
After spending time in a cabin near Yellowstone, where we had absolutely no electronics but an old VCR and an old TV to watch old western videotapes at night, the kids voted to go tent camping in the national forest. How much fun was that? It rained, but we stayed dry, and I got to spend days fishing with my girls, hiking, encouraging them to read good stuff, playing board games, etc. Two weeks straight of no electronics. When we got back they had to have their friends over and guess what we did? They all wanted to play board games all night.
I don't make near what I used to, but it's been so worth it. Thanks for sharing the video.
He actually got one together that floated but barely. He had fun and learned some things and I'm sure next time he will do even better.
When I was a kid there were always friends in the neighborhood to explore and play with but now not so much so for my children I try and come up with things for them to do that doesn't involve video games. My kids like most like video games and if you left them they would play far too long.
I bought each one a timer and unless my wife or I say otherwise they have to limit themselves to one hour a day and they use the timer to count down their time.
It isn't easy but IMO you need to make the effort to get them outdoors doing things. Just telling them to play in the yard is fine but only goes so far. In todays world as a parent I find I have to put a little more thought and effort into ideas for things for them to do that are both fun and creative and also outdoors.
I see kids out and about all the time. Of course the older generations will remember things fondly with a sepia tone. The more interesting exercise would have been to ask them those questions when they were kids. Their answers would have been very different.
I definitely struggle with the amount of time my kids spend in front of electronic devices.
But honestly, I wouldn't want my older one, who is pretty good on a climbing wall cause she's smart and light as a feather, doing the (in retrospect) risky free climbing I did as a teen on the Palisades cliffs north of the GW bridge.
My little one has been bugging me to go fishing, and that's on me that we haven't. I know a spot that's a stream at the foot of a waterfall in rainy season, that becomes isolated pool in summer, chock full of trout that inhabit that stream. Not sure it's legal to fish there, but those fish would be easy pickings for catch and release purposes, I'm pretty sure.
I think the kids converse more on their hones than play games though... With Instagram and Whats UP.