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Where is all the knowledge we lost with information?
I had an interesting discussion with one of my students yesterday…he lamented the fact that he can’t trust what is on the news. I shared with him growing up in the world of Walter Cronkite…the just-reporting-of-facts thing. We then talked about how early kids are falling into the great whirlpool of technology. As soon as young ones can hold a device, they are off and running, alas, only metaphorically. That whole thing—-what with younger folks mastering technology so smoothly and quickly reminds me of my first ski experience…Dragon Valley in Korea…I am maybe fourteen and am beyond clumsy with the sticks (‘scuse me, POLES) and the skis, and it just is easier for me to log roll down the mountain instead of committing vertical suicide on the skis…meanwhile, darting around me like dragonflies are these tiny creatures…just walking…two- or three-years old…ON SKIS…literally running circles around me. Insufferable…
But back to information…my kids did spend some time in front of the TV…I monitored…we watched a lot of Disney…Power Rangers and VR Troopers…but we also read books…not just Dr. Seuss, but Harry Potter, Eragon, Lord of the Rings…I felt at the time that I was doing a good job of selecting what my kids were exposed to. We played with toys…we spent as much time outside as we could considering the effect of Texas allergens on us all. We sang songs, dressed up in costumes, and made up stories…imagination was part of the every day. I made sure they knew who Elvis and the Beatles were…the Kingston Trio and Ritchie Valens.
I worry about this generation of youngsters…will their necks permanently bow from looking at devices in their hands? Will their thumbs grow into giant versions of themselves from texting and gaming? More than that I worry that they will not know how to sift through all the profound BS that is raining on them every minute of every day. How do we teach them to use a moral compass if we can’t find one?
I know there are bigger fish to fry at the moment, and believe me, I do not judge parents who occupy the hands and minds of their children for some temporary respite. I wonder if a side effect of all this could be a return to a more crunchy (in a good way), organic way of play…of crayons and water colors…of playdough and role playing…of singing and dancing and teaching our kids about the way we used to play. Maybe there is room for that, too. Maybe they can learn from fairy tales and other stories about determining right from wrong…maybe they can learn how to play nicely and to share from disconnecting and interacting with other humans. I don’t think they can get that from watching the news or newsfeed. I think they will just get buffeted back and forth like flotsam in a storm. I want this to be over…the Pandemic, the election, the fear…but I also want some of the home-based opportunities to spill over into the Next. I want people to be grateful to see each other in person…I want parents to still play with their kids…I want people to keep the pets they rescued…
Anyway…
