Kids These Days

I remember being a child and hearing adults all around me saying things such as “kids these days… they don’t realize how good they have it” or “today’s youth is so entitled. They wouldn’t have lasted a day in my world, when I was that age”.

It wasn’t until last spring, when I was at a child’s birthday party that I came upon a shocking realization. One moment, the children were playing with their iPads, and the next.. Pure CHAOS. It was as if the world had suddenly imploded around these kids, it completely came crashing down – *cue screams of terror* – Want to know why? Because the WIFI WENT OUT. The Wifi!!

Upon hearing these screams of terror, I came running, birthday cake in hand, imagining the worst! Someone had fallen and had bone fragments poking out of their leg, someone badly bumped their head on the furniture due to rough-housing, someone saw Michael Myers (Halloween) lurking outside the window… You know, logical things that make kids scream. But no. They were visibly (and audibly) upset because the wi-fi went out and they couldn’t play their games or watch videos.

EXCUSE ME??

I began to offer up creative solutions for other things to do without technology. Go outside and play with each other, build a pillow fort, play cards or board games! And then, that’s when it happened. I became every adult, EVER when I said these words: “When I was younger, we didn’t have wi-fi. You kids just don’t realize how good you have it”.

After that statement, I realized, that I have matured. I now see the world around me differently, and shame on me for calling all those “old folks” LAME and telling them to get with the times. We all go through it one day. Do you remember when you had your moment? “I sound just like my mother” Yeah. Happens to all of us.

This statement made me reflect – and YES! Times ARE changing. Technology is KING (or QUEEN). Which leads me to believe that us “lame adults” of the world need to get it together for the kids. As an educator, I say YES to cell phones out in class. YES to laptops going home. YES to video games hooked up to a Smart-Board. and YES I realize my ideas are a little “out there” but hey! Someone’s out there thinking it. I’m just sharing it.

Check out my next blog post to read about my beliefs on technology in the classroom.

#Classroom #millennial #technology