What's The Matter With Kids? A World That Hates Childhood.

[osewalrus]

"Many parents and pediatricians speculate about the role that screen time and social media might play in this social deficit. But it’s important to acknowledge that simply taking away or limiting screens is not enough. Children turn to screens because opportunities for real-life human interaction have vanished; the public places and spaces where kids used to learn to be people have been decimated or deemed too dangerous for those under 18."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/17/opinion/sunday/childhood-suicide-depression-anxiety.html

Briefly: it is not one thing but many things that have utterly reshaped the modern concept of childhood. And it is not something that any individual parent can change. I used to urge Aaron to try to have unstructured play with his friends. But none of the local kids would engage in unstructured play. Everything needed a "play date." 

Comments

[gingicat]

The neighbor kids invite my kids and their electronics over all the time! Their youngest exasperatedly insists that they have to put them down and play outside.