As a kid growing up in the 2010s, I remember when there used to be PS1 kiosks in the middle of the joint, all 4 in a row playing Crash Bandicoot. The kiosks even looked the part with artificial grass and green and sandy beige paint. I don’t remember where I saw them though, it might’ve been a Maccas, Hungry Jacks or some random resturant. But these kiosks weren’t that busy since most of the other kids were busy playing in the playground. And I think that speaks measures about how much things has changed since the 2010s vs 2020s in terms of hope for our children and the hope children have in themselves. You can absolutely be sure there’d be 4 or 5 more kiosks for these kids playing Fortnite or some other F2P game, while the resturant completely rids of the play area (or it just gets underutilized by the kids).
The majority of kids nowadays have been raised with the notion that nothing is more entertaining than an iPad. They spend time alone with an internet connection and flashing lights, and even if they go to a park, they’ll still prefer to be alone with flashing lights rather than socialize with the other kids. This obviously stunts their social abilities and willingness to become friends with everyone, which is the same whimsy we’ve all had when we were kids, me included.
These kids have almost nothing to make friends out of, with the removal of third places and parents not knowing how to raise them, as well as all of them being basically identical since they watch the same content as every other kid instead of doing other endeavours like painting or bike riding. But ay, world’s changing and giving mega corps every facet of our children’s lives was definitely a good call.
It’s not completely lost on the kids though, as I see they’re still making friends on the odd occasion. A family friend of ours have kids that go to soccer practice, play with all sorts of tools in the yard and even helps out their parents while they’re gardening and doing housework. These kids, ironically, are being raised the same way we were, with old game consoles and limited access to the internet. Thus their boredom turns into curiousity, like what most parents should be doing instead of handing the phone to a screaming child.
I’ve been watching too much bullshit about Gen Alpha being a tragic generation and I could go on and on but I’ll save people’s ear from me lol
I fear that everything being recorded affects us adults too, since part of our fear of meeting someone new might make us “cringe-worthy” if it gets posted to social media, something that previous generations of kids and teens didn’t get to experience. I was raised in the cusp of that shifting period and it affected my social life during high school and still affects me today.
I think mandates for kid actvities would be great, but the parents would have to guarantee that it’s free and ensure that their work won’t call them up during that time. This could easily be done by allowing a 4 day work week for parents exclusively and a day that they spend all for their kids, whether or not it’s a little home schooling or going to an activity. But in the current landscape of slavery-with-extra-steps and how the ruling class views us working class, when will that ever happen??
There’s the other thing about parents, they don’t have enough time to spend on their kids. I probably shouldn’t have been so quick to judge the parents and it’s not the onus on them. Parents nowadays are burnt out from work while they’re in the workplace and also have to face the burden of always being available for work, i.e. work calling them for an extra shift or remote work during the weekends. It’s getting harder and harder for parents to tend to their kids, which makes the iPad the ideal babysitter since it’s mostly a pay once item and can keep the kids busy while they’re slaving away working. This makes both the kids and parents have a miserable experience as they grow, and dare I say the younger generation might realise this as they grow older and become radicalized over workplace reforms and such.
It’s also beccoming increasingly expensive to raise kids nowadays. It’s especially hard keeping one person up on their feet nowadays, imagine having to pay for daipers at one point and paying for toys and accessories the other for 18 years straight. I mean fark, I’m not thinking of having kids until shit gets stable enough and I’m not even thinking of paying a Wi-Fi plan when I get my own place. Capitalism is a great system with no flaws.