Sometimes Change Isn't a Good Thing

[Deborah Jovan Reed]

1992 - When I was ten years old my father bought my sister and me Sega and while I thought it was the best invention in the world it didn't keep me from jumping ramps with my friends' dirt bike (since my father thought girls should only ride ten-speeds),  swimming into the deluges that developed after heavy rains, catching tadpoles and crawdaddies just because, making mazes in the sand to race frogs - see which one could make it to the other side, or hunting squirrels and rabbits with my dog Murray (we never killed them, it was all about the chase). 

For kids my age being outside was the best activity in the world, more so for me because when I was younger I was sick almost all the time (sinus infections my neurologists suspects being the cause of my anosmia) but Sega was still only the mode of escape when all the books were read and I couldn't think of a thing to write.

2012 - On a clear summer's day or a chilly morning when the snow is thick and aching for some attention - forts, snowmen, and using pizza pans to slide down hills - kids choose their X-Box 360 and PS3, killing the synapses in their brains with every second. For them, a book is just something you pretend you read so you can pass your classes.

I took my 7-year-old niece in my arms during the holidays and talked to her about the time before video games and out of the mouth of babes she said, "You told me before -" she paused a moment, "but I don't remember."

I shudder to think what life might be like for our youth in 2032.

[Mike Handley]

Me, too, Deborah.