Would You Want To Be A Child Of Today?

Posted: July 1, 2014

The grass is always greener on the other side. Each generation has its benefits and flaws. This insightful post wonders – Would you want to be a child of today’s generation?

Sometimes, I question myself – Would I like to be a child of this generation?

Why do I ask this question?

Because these times, when I am bringing up my little girl, are so different from when I was little.

In what ways? Well, in a lot of ways.

Firstly, the world was huge back then! I know the size of the Earth has not changed at all, but you could not connect to everybody with the ease these children have now. I remember my first trip to the USA when I was about 12 years old; the excitement and the love for flying, the effort that went into planning that trip was unmatched. It was not as easy as just clicking a couple of keys on the laptop. We didn’t even have access to computers back then.

There were no mobile phones, no emails, and no Facebook either! The only way of being in touch with the relatives and friends overseas was the ‘not so clear’ ISD calls that were ‘oh so expensive’, or the letters that would take so many days, if not months, to reach us.

Secondly, we had the opportunity to grow up in large families. If we were not living in a joint family, we still had relatives and cousins around, who were more our friends than relatives. It was great growing up around them, and visiting them over the weekends and holidays.

The children of this generation do not have that opportunity; they don’t know and will never really understand the bonds of family, as they are not in touch the way we were. They will, perhaps, never understand why families are so important, until and unless they spend more quality time with them.

Weddings are like family re-unions today!

The families today are so scattered around the globe that you generally tend to meet everybody only during someone’s wedding in the family, when everybody makes it a point to meet. Weddings are like family re-unions today!

Thirdly, the games we used to play, and the amount of time we used to spend outdoors was far more than what these children are used to. Either its too hot or too cold for them. I am not blaming the children here, but questioning the parents instead. It’s more about packing the kids to the play dates or to the clubhouses generally when the weather is not that great!

The definition of outdoors has also changed dramatically from the time we were little – there are not as many open spaces around anymore, the amount of pollutants and allergens outside are far more, and the kids are more prone to allergies today. So of course, now we tend to check the pollen count in the air before sending them out to play.

Fourthly, our schools were so very different from the ones today. Nowadays, there is more stress on practicality in life rather than bookish knowledge. The schools are much more open in thinking and in adapting newer ideas than they were earlier. Also, more space is given to the children as students, which helps them to develop their logical sense and thinking.

There is more effort to create school communities and the parents are more involved today than they were before. The teachers are more friendly and open to ideas today. So, that’s a big plus in my book.

Fifthly, I still remember the TV time that we used to enjoy on Sundays when the cartoons would just be on for two hours. Our love for “The Jungle Book”, “Mickey Mouse”, and a lot of other Indian cartoons as well was far more than the choice available to these kids today.

There was such love and awe about small things back then.

The interest in cartoons (that’s just one thing I am mentioning here!) keeps on changing on a daily basis today because of the humongous choice available to them. But the joy of waiting and then watching those special shows once a week with your family sitting right next to you is unmatched, I guess. There was such love and awe about small things back then.

There are many more things I can list here! Sometimes, I feel it’s going to be a task to make today’s generation a bit more patient in their outlook towards life. I still cherish my childhood, but of course no generation can be fully satisfied with what it had. I am sure my daughter will have similar lists to make when she grows up.

This post was first published here.