Sometimes it is hard to believe that modern day childhood is a childhood at all. The idea seems so far off from what an ideal childhood should be based on my own joyful experience and the ones described to me by my parents and grandparents. Spending hours drawing chalk homes along the driveway, playing kickball sunrise to sunset, my freedom as a child formed the pure creativity that remains within me today. Unfortunately, it is these experiences that children today are severely lacking. 

Shannon Doyne from the New York Times gives reason to believe “that childhood itself is now in crisis.” My mind grows weary at the stories I hear of what has changed in only a decade. Values in the world today by children stray far from values in the past including the value of material things, growing exponentially among children. 

Little squeaky voices that once cried for “mommy” now cry for “mommy’s phone.”A sunny day would likely carry the wind of laughing children playing outside. Now the wind only carries silence. Now the wind carries silence as children replace running in the yard with sitting on a couch, eyes glued to their iPads.

 Parents have grown comfortable with these changes in the idea of childhood. There have been instances, Doyne explains, where attempts to challenge modern day behavior resulted in backlash from society “struck down by courts as free speech violations.” Using a phone as a tool to calm or quiet a child is reinforcing this modern day culture that causes kids to grow up too fast. Adults and parents continue to follow the path of denial that technology is doing more harm than good and they have the right to give their children screen time. 

Children are being exposed to inappropriate music, websites and social media which can affect their child's thoughts, attitudes, and connections between other children and parents. In one ear and out the other, leaving me in disbelief at what is socially accepted by parents in modern times within a childhood that holds some much value. 

 Life already goes by in the blink of an eye and your childhood might be the most precious time of all. Childhood activities are being replaced with behaviors most commonly described as “teenage behaviors.” Sitting on a phone, constantly talking over the phone with people versus in person, indoors more than outdoors, even behavior toward parents such as disrespect and attitude has grown more socially acceptable in the world today than it ever would have been tolerated in the past. 

Core memories from my childhood include neighborhood friends, spending all day outside doing whatever it is we decided that day. Did we step foot inside our houses? Only for necessities such as food or water. The lack of a childhood is detrimental to someone's imagination, the age when your imagination should be at its prime, yet it lacks the ability to flourish in modern day times. Exploring new games or creating new ideas as a child helped me to find a deeper appreciation for the world around me and gave me the ability to build relationships with other people. When you allow yourself to imagine or be creative you enhance your problem solving skills and critical thinking. 

Consider as a parent how you can act now to conserve this precious time of development. Monitor your child's screen time, set limits, create boundaries. It can be hard to do this when the consequences of setting rules is rebellion. Trust me, no one wants to handle an unhappy screaming, crying child. Setting boundaries and creating rules will promote the concept of boredom enabling children to use their imaginations and socialize, creating that “ideal” childhood. No child should be neglected of the experiences that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. The crying and the screaming will all be worth it in the end. 

Work Cited

Doyne, Shannon. “Student Opinion | Is Modern Culture Ruining Childhood? - The New York Times.” The Learning Network, 23 August 2011, learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/is-modern-culture-ruining-childhood/. Accessed 4 May 2022.