Child's Play

I was a child of the 70s and an 80s teenager. When I was a kid, Atari was new, but I wasn't allowed to have one. There were only 3 television stations---we couldn't get cable TV where I lived. Cartoons only came on Saturday morning, and music videos only played after the 10pm news on Saturday night. So, there wasn't much to do indoors growing up; consequently, I played outside most of the day. I was lucky to live in the country with friends nearby--we raced go carts, hunted for "snipe," played in an old tire swing, climbed trees, and played hide and seek in the woods. We actually played games like Capture the Flag, dodge ball, and 4 square. My friends and I were creative when it came to finding new things to do. We made up relay races where we had to wear old clothes, throw eggs into a basket, or jump through hoops. It doesn't really matter what games we played, the point is, we played. We were kids in a time that it was okay just to be a kid. We didn't care if it was silly, and we didn't know what "cool" was. I know I am being nostalgic, but I get so sad sometimes when I see our middle school students trying to be more and more grown up. I went Halloween costume shopping with my 14 year old daughter yesterday, and I was shocked at how many costumes for "tween girls" were seductive and used the words "sexy" and "vixen." I understand that change happens, but I think taking away childhood from kids is one the most egregious changes of our time. Our kids don't know how to play unless it is an organized sport, or they have an electronic device. Yesterday, we hosted our first intramural games among our Zone classes. The morning was filled with child's play: dodge ball, Capture the Flag, and Anything Goes (silly relay races.) For most of our students, they had a great time---they had the opportunity to just be kids and play. Of course, there were some that sat in the stands, with their headphones,and their Iphones and acted "too cool" to run a race, throw an egg, chase after a flag, or dodge a ball. I felt sad for those students for the world has tainted them into thinking that just being a kid is "uncool." I hope that as a society, we can return to where kids are just kids---where they can simply play. For if kids are just kids, then maybe we won't have 12-14 year olds experimenting with sex and drugs because in their mind, they are too young for that nonsense--they are simply too busy having fun with child's play.