"That did not exist with us!" - Children before and today

Everything was better before? The summers were still summer and in winter there was snow? The children were well educated and knew how to behave? Oh no please do not! This sentence has already done too much evil and led to unnecessary discussions. The older you get, the more you tend to idealize the past. There have always been rainy summers and mild winters. Also earlier. And the children? They were different. Because time was different.

Probably the world has never changed as fast as in the last 20 years. Of course, the internet has a significant part in that. If you imagine that in the early days of PC and World Wide Web critics were betting that these technologies would sink back into the ground ("Who needs a PC?"), The development is almost unimaginable. Of course, I also notice that today when I'm with my son.

End of transmission versus Youtube

My son is 15. When he was 11, I once talked to him about my childhood television program. I reported that there were only three TV programs. Actually, there were even four, because in the evening I was always allowed to watch the "Sandman" on TV. The picture was bad, but I loved the Sandman. I also told my son about the end of the show and the test picture. When he heard these words for the first time, he looked at me with big, questioning eyes. I had never thought much about it before, but at that moment I realized that worlds are between then and now. Not only did my son find the idea of three television programs unpleasant, he also could not imagine that at certain times there would be nothing on television. When I see him today, he always has his cell phone and iPad with him. He listens to music, watches movies and surfs on Google or Youtube. Screening activities of children and adolescents today are many times higher compared to my childhood. But I also know that it would be pointless to shake it. That's the way of things. And I profit from it myself, too. And like to watch funny videos on Youtube together with my son. Regardless of the end of the broadcast.

Outside at home?

I remember having kids from the neighborhood playing outside for hours. We had a big, green backyard where we could play football, organize our go-cart off-road trips or play hide-and-seeks. In the apartment we actually only played when the weather was bad. I grew up in the middle of the city, but there were many green spaces and playgrounds nearby where we could let off steam. Incidentally, entering grass was not prohibited at the time. But maybe I'll just become a victim myself in idealizing the past.

My son grew up in a rural environment. I deliberately moved to the outskirts of town with my wife when our son grew a bit bigger. We wanted him to grow up close to nature, that he does not think cows are purple, as city kids actually do every now and then. Our ex-wife and I differed from our parents in many ways, but not in one. During the day we never ran the TV. We redesigned the free time and limited television activities to selected times. The principle still works today. Our son has no interest in turning on the TV when he comes home from school. He does not even have to force himself, because he has not learned otherwise. The difference to my childhood, however, is in two trouser pockets. In the right is the mobile phone, in the left the Pad.

Best friends

Allegedly, the social behavior in past times should have been better than today. Allegedly, Internet, mobile phone and smartphone prevent long-term friendships between young people. Supposedly, it is the killer games that cause teenagers to start running amok and shooting wild at school. Allegedly, today's teenagers are increasingly suffering from loss of reality due to the many screen activities.

I personally see it differently ... The society has changed today ...
The kids still play together when it's also via console or PC, when and how they play with each other at the end does not matter. With the help of Discord and Teamspeak, they are even linguistically connected. I should not be able to sign war games in the computer so I can see many more cussing when they play tetris than at one of these war games :D

My son has a small but very close circle of friends. And his best buddy now belongs to the family. So he's sort of gotten into something that was a veritable sanctuary in times gone by. That's easier today. My son has registered his best friend on Facebook under the rubric "Family" and "Brother". That's how easy it can be.

So do not try to fight what happens our parents cursed when we wanted a gameboy or before because we had long hair, maybe because we were riding a motorcycle. There have always been changes in time and today it is just that our lives are becoming more international. Borders have long been bypassed by ordinary citizens by meeting internationally. 10 billion people in this world, what do you think is the likelihood that you just meet good friends at the next corner ....