holding your children closer to more traditional ideals, but you’re really leaving them unprepared for the
future, which brings me to my next point.
The past fucking sucked. Nostalgia is nice, but it’s ultimately misleading. We all glamorise the past in our
own ways, whether through the bands we liked in High
School, an interest in family ancestry or certain fascinations with particular periods of time. But nostalgia
is always biased. Of course, we shouldn’t ignore the
past, we just need to stop pretending it was a mystical
golden age. The 1950’s weren’t all white-picket fences
and lemonade stands, despite what ‘Leave It Beaver’
may have you believe. I mean, typewriters are super
cool but have you ever tried using one? Very tiresome.
There’s nothing wrong with that fond romanticism
many of us feel for the past, but trying to recreate it
for your child is both weird and ineffectual. Warping
your child’s perception of modern day is not going to
make them traditional or humble. Believe it or not, a
child can learn to operate a computer and write with
pen on paper. They’re not mutually exclusive. A kid
can enjoy programming and fishing, just as they can
like both video games and books. It all comes down to
parenting. By all means, unite them with the past, but
don’t leave them unprepared for the future.
In full, I understand these issues come from a good
place. People want their kids to thrive. Everyone wants
t heir child to be happy and successful and brilliant. Of
course kids need to play together and get outside, but
technology isn’t an obstacle here. It’s a tool for interacting with this vast world around them. A wealth of
information lies at our finger tips and every moment
can be captured and shared, and that’s pretty cool.
The key is to synthesise technology with a traditional
childhood, embracing the importance of both rather
than pitting them against one another.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this unsolicited parenting advice from a single, childless 21-year-old man. As always, it’s been both a pleasure and a pointless misadventure. Have a nice day.
Adios.
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