Parents Don’t Get Next Generation Socializing

A few weeks ago, while driving in my car, I was flipping through the radio stations and acme across a DJ on a very angry rant.

This particular DJ was commenting on yet another report that kids today are overweight, under stimulated and just plain lazy. Sure, these facts are probably all correct; kids today spend too much time playing video or computer games, and not enough time doing anything physical, and as a result of that, combined with eating unhealthy, they pack on the pounds quickly. However, that is not what got me angry. The DJ proceeded to tell the listeners that today’s generation of kids do not socialize, that they spend too much time on Facebook, MySpace and MSN chatting with friends.

It’s safe to say that the DJ grew up in the 1960s, where children were given no other choice but to play outside with the neighborhood kids. Today however, the generation has shifted along with the most recent technology. Forty years ago, people did not have the Internet in their homes, so socializing was done face-to-face, while today, kids can socialize through their computers and video game consoles.

The last time I checked, Facebook and MySpace are considered one form of social media, and in turn, would mean that kids today are in fact socializing with each other.

I am not taking one side over another, but merely playing devil’s advocate; I see the pros and cons in each argument. I will say this, there is a definite generational gap and understanding between my parents’ generation and my own (and even younger.) If I were to ask my mother to define social media, she would venture a guess of blogging, but other wise she would be clueless.

Just because it is not the “traditional” type of socialization, social media is getting a bad rap from our elders simply because they just do not understand (kind of like that Will Smith song.)

Growing up, I was a bit of a couch potato. However, I was extremely active in extracurricular activating including dance, figure skating, and a wide variety of sports both in and outside of school. But I also didn’t have the same technology available to me that these kids do.

I am not writing this to blame the absentee parents for being too busy to raise their children, but rather offering up the idea that it is simply the way our world has shifted. Technology has become more and more interactive, so why wouldn’t growing minds want to discover and explore?