Have you ever thought about what life was like 50 years ago? They year would have been 1966. Your parents were probably born by this year, and if they weren't, I'm sure they were a thought that had crossed your grandparents' minds. At the time, gas was 32 cents per gallon, a gallon of milk was 99 cents and the cost of a new home was around $23,000 (1960sflashback). The most popular shows on television included Bewitched and Batman, and an HP computer was developed for scientists.
I am by no means a walking encyclopedia. I did not even ask my grandparents for the information above. I used the internet to access facts regarding 1966. When we think about our lives today, one of the first things that we would think about is media and technology. As a millennial, it is hard to imagine life without social media, smartphones, laptops and as ancient as they may seem, DVD/VHS players (pre-Netflix years). These tools have been ridiculously helpful to people of all ages, socially, financially, educationally and so on. The opportunities that technology and media offer are amazing, but there are a heavy amount of negatives that come with the positives.
In recent years, studies have shown an increase in the time spent on electronic devices. As of 2015, U.S. adults spent an average of 12 hours per day using major media, according to Vici. These numbers vary based on the tools and entertainment offered at the time. However, when we look at facts for our generation which is the future of the world, the numbers are stunning.
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Over the past few years, these numbers have skyrocketed. With new social media platforms, new devices, and resources offered through them, we have all become dependent. You'd be lying if you said the amount of likes you get on Instagram didn't matter to you, that you didn't have the Emoji keyboard on your smartphone, or that you didn't find this article on your Facebook newsfeed. It has become a part of our lives, and there is no escaping it.
As a college student, I am forced to think about my future career. I am studying to be a teacher, and it is only expected that technology will play a large role in the classroom, as I went through high school using an iPad rather than a notebook. Within the next 10-15 years, my generation will be bearing children and raising the children of the future. Technology will be the center of our lives, even more than now.
As someone who has dreams of raising a family one day, it is only natural for me to imagine what my future children will grow up with, in comparison to the children of today. I have many younger cousins, and their childhoods revolve around their tablets and phones which they received at a much earlier age than my generation did. The biggest piece of technology that I grew up with aside from television was a Gameboy and for my older siblings, a Tamagotchi. What will my children have? Will the iPhone 20 be out by then? Will the next laptop be as thin as paper? Our thoughts can even go as far as the way restaurants and stores will function - will there even be servers or clerks anymore?
These thoughts are far from extreme. But the craziest part is not what will be offered, but how we will parent. As a child my punishment was no television or I got my Gameboy taken away. Today, my little cousins get their tablet taken away for media use, but of course it is needed for homework. How will we punish our children if media will be even more central than it is now? These are questions that will continue to arise and a solution is crucial.
Manners were central to my childhood; "say please and thank you", "wipe your feet", "hold the door open", "the guest always goes first", our parents would say. I cannot help but to imagine myself saying to my children, "put your phone away at the table", "put your hover board in the corner", "always offer the wifi password to guests". When we imagine these sayings, we may laugh... for now. But the fact that you can walk into a restaurant, and see children being occupied by tablets and smart phones, some adults on their devices rather than speaking to one another, it is only expected to think about media manners.
Little by little we are becoming exposed to how to be safe online, when to use it and when not to, and so on. But as the future of the world, it is our job to keep a sense of childhood in the world, and sense of innocence and communication. If we lose sight of traditional humanity, who knows, our children could be born with a media username or "handle" on their electronic birth certificates.
Take these facts, and make some changes in your life. Encourage the younger children in your life to play a card game, with physical cards. When you go out to eat, put your phone face down in the middle of the table. Track your time spent on media, and do a "media cleanse" once in a while. See who you actually know on your Facebook, and get rid of the ones you don't. Think about your future, your kids' futures; allow your children to have the innocent childhood that you once had, running around in the yard, watching Saturday morning cartoons, and playing M.A.S.H during recess. Don't let the kids of the future become anti-social, help to make a change.
