I have to start out with saying that I am not a parent and do not have children of my own, but feel as if I need to say something about the children of this generation. I am not an expert on the subject and I do not mean to insult those parents that HAVE raised good and decent children (for that…I applaud you), but I have to say that the children of “Generation Z” are going downhill.
I hate to say it, but I think this generation of children will either 1. Be the demise of the U.S., or 2. Be the end of the world. Is that a little harsh? Yes. You might ask why I say this and it’s for many reasons. I partly blame schools, television/media, the rise in technological advancement, and those greedy people involved in these areas that just want to become rich or richer…no matter the outcome. However, everything from the creation of new television shows to new technology is ultimately just making people dumber and lazier…ESPECIALLY our nation and even our world’s youth! Parents are the other part to blame, but before I get to them, I want to share my thoughts and feelings on my conclusions.
My rant on this subject started after I heard on the news the other day that a northern school would be removing “Cursive Handwriting” out of their curriculum and replacing it with “Computer Based Skills.” Their reason was that with the rise in technology, cursive was becoming obsolete and that it just takes too long to teach cursive. Come on scholars, YOU are MAKING cursive obsolete. I mean how long does it really take to learn cursive? I remember when I was younger that I was reading and writing in cursive within one school year and every school year after was made to write every paper in cursive. It didn’t take 5-10 years of schooling to learn cursive; it only took that long to perfect it. I also remember that it took a half a school year to learn a keyboard and then the other half to learn layouts and formatting for documents and letters. Look Mom! I’m typing right now without looking at the keys, but you know what?! I bet I can still pick up a pen and paper and write everything I’m saying now in cursive!
If schools take cursive out of their curriculum, a child’s mind will not grow in the same way; it will diminish their ability to have a creative mind and will ultimately set them up for failure and to be lazy. Not only will they not gain hand strength from writing, but they will start their life off being lazy, sitting at a desk behind a computer; whilst they will want to remain at the computer because of the World Wide Web and online gaming. As well, if cursive is removed, how will children be able to read historical documents like the Declaration of Independence or delve into the art of childhood love letters? The worst scenario being they grow up to be an adult and can’t even sign their own name to a document.
Some schools say that they will teach the letters and teach them how to sign their own name, but what good is this? This generation of children wouldn’t care to learn or remember any other letters than what they need to sign their own name. They would go around being able to WRITE their own name, but not be able to READ or WRITE other people’s names or documents. My standpoint; it doesn’t take long at all to teach or learn either one! I mean if schools are going to use time to teach parts of cursive, why not take a little more time to teach it all the way?!
Next on the list would be technology. Am I in any way bashing technology? Hell, no! I love technology. As I wrote in my description, I don’t really get the whole online social networking or even the whole ins and outs of it, but technology is cool. It makes our lives simpler by being faster and letting us have the ability to multi-task, but it also makes us lazy. I mean how many hours do we, as adults, spend sitting in front of the computer?! Yet, we are starting the younger generation out in front of one?
Do I own a laptop? Yes. A huge flatscreen HD/TV? Yes. A smartphone? Yes. An Xbox 360? Yes. Do I love to play on or use every one of them? Yes! However, it is the younger generation that I am worried about having these things.
Do I own a laptop? Yes. A huge flatscreen HD/TV? Yes. A smartphone? Yes. An Xbox 360? Yes. Do I love to play on or use every one of them? Yes! However, it is the younger generation that I am worried about having these things.
I have literally seen quite a few 5 year olds (mainly girls) that have cell phones! I mean what does a child that age need with a cell phone? Who could they possibly need to call? What happens when they lose it as most kids that age tend to do with everything? I could see a teen around middle school having one, but even then, it is not needed. Not to mention it is that much more of a distraction in school. I, myself, didn’t get my first cell phone until the summer before college. I relied on my house, school, or parent’s cell phone. There is no need for young children to have cell phones. Plus, giving them one makes them dumber by not allowing them to remember either their own phone number or emergency numbers…what happens when they lose their phone and can’t remember emergency numbers?
Technology has given us the television and media, so next on the list to blame would be the latter. Younger children and teens because of television and the media think they can get by in the world just on their actions or looks. This is especially true for younger females. The media harps on fashion and looking sexy/hot or cool/manly. Children will eventually start to disregard their schooling because they think that they will be able to get by on their looks. I mean look around at malls nowadays…you’ve got little girls walking around in heels, teenage girls walking around in skirts that are too short, and guys walking around with pants down to their ankles. There’s no reason for anyone to dress like that!
Where do they get this from, though? The media and television! They see television shows like MTV’s new degrading and corrupt show, “Skins.” Then there are shows like “Teen Mom” and “16 & Pregnant,” and they think, “Oh, well if they did it, I can too! I’ll go do this and become a celebrity or be more popular.” These TV networks say that they portray teen “reality,” but really it is compilation of 4-5 pregnant teens…or in “Skins” case, teen actors that are half-naked having sex and doing drugs. Yet, somehow networks are able to convince teens that these TV shows represent the entire teen population.
The next entity to blame is the gaming industry, whether it is PC or console. I can’t lie, but I do enjoy playing video games myself. However, I am not obsessed with them so much that I play them 5+ hours a day. I grew up with my mom only allowing me and my brother to play an hour a day. Then we would go outside and play in the yard or with the neighbors. Even if we didn’t want to go out that day, we were MADE to go outside…the outcome was us always having fun. We were also given the opportunity to choose an extracurricular activity, but we HAD to do something. My parents every year gave us the choice of learning an instrument, playing sports, or joining clubs, such as the Boy Scouts. We were able to grow in our own way by choosing what we wanted to learn or participate in. I, myself, chose to do two things: sports and Boy Scouts. Yet, this “Generation Z” is allowed to stay inside and play video games for hours upon hours and do whatever they want.
Then there are kids that are obsessed with PC games like World of Warcraft that play day in and day out. One of my friends told me he shut his little brother’s computer down while he was playing this game, and his brother punched a hole through the wall he was so angry. A past girlfriend's brothers would make death threats towards their parents (even at 5 years old) when they would deny them their video games.
This younger generation is definitely technologically advanced, but still there is no reason for allowing them to constantly play video games for however long they want and behave however they want. So, this is where the parents come in…
I partially blame parents for their lack in parenting. I do agree with letting your child grow independently and letting them be involved in what they like to do. However, with this rise in technology, choosing technology over sports seems to be the preferred choice of many teens. So, it is the parents’ responsibility to their children to allow them to play only an hour or two a day…and ONLY after their homework is done. My ex-girlfriend’s mom (when she found out her children didn’t do their homework the night before) would force my ex to do their homework for them, just so they would not get in trouble at school. I mean what kind of parenting is that? This is only one example, but it happens everywhere and all the time. Parents sometimes even do their child’s homework. It’s like they care enough to not have their kid get in trouble at school, but they don’t care enough to have them excel in school. Does that make any sense?
As well, if teens are engaging in sex and drugs like they are advertising on these demoralizing shows; then it’s the parents fault for not having a tighter leash on their children. I mean where were the parents on these shows when these teen girls are having sex and ending up pregnant? However, it’s the parents’ responsibility to block channels like this and not allow their children to view crap that does nothing but kill brain cells. Humans have billions of brain cells and exceedingly more when we are younger. We lose brain cells as we grow older, and so when parents allow their children to fill their brains with nothing but hours upon hours of video games and television; this ends up being the only thing they know or can reference. It is the parents’ responsibility to fashion their children to be useful and contribute to society. This technological era is ruining a child’s mind to be creative, scientific, talented, athletic, democratic, or even sociable.
As well, if teens are engaging in sex and drugs like they are advertising on these demoralizing shows; then it’s the parents fault for not having a tighter leash on their children. I mean where were the parents on these shows when these teen girls are having sex and ending up pregnant? However, it’s the parents’ responsibility to block channels like this and not allow their children to view crap that does nothing but kill brain cells. Humans have billions of brain cells and exceedingly more when we are younger. We lose brain cells as we grow older, and so when parents allow their children to fill their brains with nothing but hours upon hours of video games and television; this ends up being the only thing they know or can reference. It is the parents’ responsibility to fashion their children to be useful and contribute to society. This technological era is ruining a child’s mind to be creative, scientific, talented, athletic, democratic, or even sociable.
Technology has put us in a world of non-physical communication, as well, even as adults. We text, chat, Facebook, Myspace, Skype, email, or talk via headsets. We do this more than ever before and it is becoming more so in the younger generation. Instead of visiting a friend’s house; kids are chatting on Facebook or over video game consoles. Instead of calling their friend; they text. Some businesses are even doing this with job applications or resumes being submitted online or interviews being conducted over the phone. Our younger generation is becoming less sociable…and partially a result of growing technology.
Now, I know this isn’t the first time this has been said, but this is just my thoughts on the subject. As well, it does not include all parents or children. I again applaud those parents that regulate their children’s technological use or have kids in extracurricular activities. I also applaud those of “Generation Z” that want to exceed in life.
For those in the movie, television, or entertainment business; I urge you to shut down your productions of filth “meant for children/teen population” that demoralizes and corrupts them and future generations of this country and world. Shut down your thoughts of making a quick buck and produce something that is entertaining as well as educational. I mean whatever happened to shows like “Family Matters,” “Full House,” “The Cosby Show,” and even shows like, “Hey Dude!”
For those parents that are opposite of the above; I urge you to shut down your child’s computer, shut down their gaming consoles, shut down their cell phones, shut down the TV, and start responsibly parenting for the better of your children and our world. I urge you to have them play sports, pick up a book, go to a friend’s house, and just have them get involved in something that doesn’t involve a screen, keys, or buttons before you allow them to shut down their minds.
Writing this blog post came just at the right time in order to be able to mention President Obama’s State of the Union Address when he stated:
“Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren’t even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree. And so the question is whether all of us –- as citizens, and as parents –- are willing to do what’s necessary to give every child a chance to succeed.
That responsibility begins not in our classrooms, but in our homes and communities. It’s family that first instills the love of learning in a child. Only parents can make sure the TV is turned off and homework gets done. We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair. We need to teach them that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline. Our schools share this responsibility. When a child walks into a classroom, it should be a place of high expectations and high performance.”