Random Odd Thought of the Morning
May. 25th, 2006 10:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
teddogToday I've heard people harping on how bad it is to overstimulate a child's brain. Apparently, it leads to short attention spans and problems at school and home.
But, at the small time, we whine and complain that our kids today are too passive, lazy and killing themselves in the process.
Anyone else greatly confused? I know I have parents, childless and childfree on my friends list. Any opinions and stories on this would be interesting.
As for mine? I'm willing to bet that I was greatly overstimulated as a child, yet it wasn't a problem. I ate the same sugary cereals and candy as kids today, probably even worse. Heck, the highlight of going to the States for me is buying Fruity Pebbles and illegal-in-Canada poptarts, since they don't sell those up north anymore. And come on, we all watched cartoons that tried to skirt around broadcast guidelines by slapping some cheap moral at the end. Shows like the A-Team were family viewing! The end result is the product of the cultural glut of the 1980s and 1990s, when the quality of media and culture apparently sucked (although, I beg to differ). And yet, I turned out mostly fine. Weight aside, I'm perfectly healthy. Yes, I'm still a bit of a spaz, but that's me.
I was a bouncey spazball and got out of control a lot as a child. My mother used to kick me outside to play and forbid me to come in until the streetlights came on. At school, I was a bit of a problem child because I got my work done fast and distracted the other students. That was changed by giving me extra credit work to slow me down.
To be honest, I'm not sure if either of these are a common practice today. I don't think my younger brothers get out a lot during the winter, although the summer is a bit of a mystery to me. They do seem to have a lot more homework than I remember having. Food might be a tiny bit different, but the only story I can recall is seeing a 10 year old carrying a large Starbucks cup at work. Then again, I don't know if that was hot chocolate, coffee, tea or anything decaf.
So... what's really wrong with kids today? Is there anything wrong at all? I'm interested to know what you think.
But, at the small time, we whine and complain that our kids today are too passive, lazy and killing themselves in the process.
Anyone else greatly confused? I know I have parents, childless and childfree on my friends list. Any opinions and stories on this would be interesting.
As for mine? I'm willing to bet that I was greatly overstimulated as a child, yet it wasn't a problem. I ate the same sugary cereals and candy as kids today, probably even worse. Heck, the highlight of going to the States for me is buying Fruity Pebbles and illegal-in-Canada poptarts, since they don't sell those up north anymore. And come on, we all watched cartoons that tried to skirt around broadcast guidelines by slapping some cheap moral at the end. Shows like the A-Team were family viewing! The end result is the product of the cultural glut of the 1980s and 1990s, when the quality of media and culture apparently sucked (although, I beg to differ). And yet, I turned out mostly fine. Weight aside, I'm perfectly healthy. Yes, I'm still a bit of a spaz, but that's me.
I was a bouncey spazball and got out of control a lot as a child. My mother used to kick me outside to play and forbid me to come in until the streetlights came on. At school, I was a bit of a problem child because I got my work done fast and distracted the other students. That was changed by giving me extra credit work to slow me down.
To be honest, I'm not sure if either of these are a common practice today. I don't think my younger brothers get out a lot during the winter, although the summer is a bit of a mystery to me. They do seem to have a lot more homework than I remember having. Food might be a tiny bit different, but the only story I can recall is seeing a 10 year old carrying a large Starbucks cup at work. Then again, I don't know if that was hot chocolate, coffee, tea or anything decaf.
So... what's really wrong with kids today? Is there anything wrong at all? I'm interested to know what you think.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-25 08:22 pm (UTC)Though there are some things that could be changed, there's always something that people look back on and wonder what everyone was thinking, letting kids do that. Like when everyone brought their familes to see a hanging?
no subject
Date: 2006-05-26 05:57 pm (UTC)I don't have an issue with today's kids more than the adults and what they expect out of the kids. We're trying to keep this awkward balance of everything safe and secure and yet active and outgoing. THEN we complain if it's too much of one side or the other. Gaaaah.
The work around I've heard of many people using is tossing their kids into structured programs. While sports are fun and all, it's not the same as tossing a kid outside to play. I know I used to HATE softball from time to time. It was fun, given if the coaches weren't running it like boot camp, but there were cool hiking trails around the diamonds that looked even better.