If you grew up in the 1950s, 60s, or even early 70s, things were a lot different for kids back then. When you rode your bicycle, you wore no helmet. We even hitchhiked with strangers and did not worry about it. We rode in cars or trucks with no seat belts or airbags. There were no car seats when we were little. We stood up in the seat beside our parents. Riding in the bed of a pickup truck while it was moving was always fun.
Some kids drank water from a garden hose, not a plastic bottle. We shared a bottle of pop with friends. We ate plenty of cakes, pies, white bread, and real butter. We were not overweight because we were always outside playing and doing things. We were healthy both physically and mentally.
We would leave home in the morning and be gone all day. No one was able to reach us, and we were okay. As long as we were home for supper, our parents did not worry.
Girls made mud pies, jumped rope, played jacks or tiddlywinks, played with dolls, played house, and had sleepovers. We boys dug up worms and went fishing by ourselves or with buddies. Gigging frogs at night was a lot of fun. We took our single-shot .22 rifle and went to the woods to hunt squirrels. There was no hunter education back then. We learned by doing. We became good hunters because we had to make every shot count. The frog legs, rabbits, squirrels, and fried fish fed our family at times.
Some of us spent hours building a go-cart out of scraps and then rode it down a hill only to remember we forgot the brakes. After running into trees and bushes a few times, we would solve our problems. We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones and teeth without calling 911. There were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We spent hours building forts or playhouses. Some of us pretended we were fighting Indians or soldiers fighting a war. We also made up games with sticks and tennis balls. Even though our parents told us it would happen, nobody got their eyes poked out.
We rode our bikes or walked to a friend’s house, even if it was on the other side of town. We knocked on the door because there was no doorbell, or we just yelled for them. There were no security cameras.
There were no video games, no surround sound, or streaming TV. We did not have to pay to watch TV back then. There were no smartphones, text messaging, personal computers, internet, or chat rooms. We had real friends, and we went outside and found them.
These generations of men and women who grew up in those days have been a part of an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success, productivity, and responsibility. We learned how to deal with it all. That was all before lawyers and the government regulated our lives supposedly for our good.
All of the above partly describes the world of yesterday many of us were privileged to have grown up in. Today is much different. Some of it is not necessarily for the better.
Today, children and adolescents spend too much time watching or using screens, including smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, TVs, and computers. Most children ages 8-12 in the United States spend 4-6 hours a day looking at screens. Teenagers spend up to 9 hours. Adults are spending over 8 hours a day.
There are 958 million texts per hour. That equates to 8.4 trillion a year. 9.7 million Facebook messages go out every minute. TikTok posts are 34 million a day. 93 million selfies are sent over social media each year. The time spent on social media has become an addiction for kids and adults.
Because of all this time spent on social media, the mental health and physical health of both kids and adults is suffering. Kids are growing up with more anxiety and less self-esteem because of harmful content. Cyberbullying and stalking are leading to kids and adults taking their own lives. The spread of misinformation has destroyed lives. Technology has created cyber criminals who steal our idenities and our money.
I do not do Facebook, TikTok, Instagram or other social media. I do not pay my bills online. Every year, 4 out of 10 adults have their idenities stolen and become victims of fraud attacks. I do not want to be one of them.
I get emails and texts on my smartphone. I can ask it a question, and it will take me to where I can find my answer. I make phone calls on it and answer calls if I know who is calling. If not, I do not answer because I do not trust it.
There are also good things about the technological world we live in today. I am using screen time on my computer to write this story. I use it to research statistics and other information I need for writing this. I use an app that checks my spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
My smartphone also helps me take pictures I can use in my stories. I look at pictures of kids and grandkids and think about all the memories we made when they were little. I listen to the sounds of nature I have recorded while outdoors.
I use my smartphone to get on YouTube if I want to watch a video on how to fix something. Or, if I want to watch what fellow Christian and country boy Buddy Brown says about what is happening in this world. I also watch the Sunday services at our church when I cannot be there.
I do have a few apps I depend on. I use my weather app to check the weather before I go on hunting, fishing, or camping trips. If I need to mow or get work done around the house I use it to see what the weather will be like when I plan on doing it. I check day by day and hour by hour, and scroll the radar across the screen to see how the weather will be.
I also use Missouri Department of Conservation apps for hunting tags, fishing permits, and seasons. I can find information about where to fish, hunt, camp, and hike. My maps app helps me to get to those places and gets me back home again.
So, some technology is helpful. I do not consider most of the other technology I have mentioned as personally good for me. I worry about what it is doing to you who are reading this, as well as our kids.
Technology is making it more difficult for adults and kids to get away from their screens and outdoors into nature. Research has proven that outdoor time is essential for kid’s mental health, physical development, and overall well-being.
Spending time outdoors allows children to connect with nature and explore. That helps foster their imagination and creativity. It also promotes physical activity, helping kids develop their motor skills and maintain a healthy weight. In addition, it also boosts their cardiovascular health and strengthens their immune system.
Too much time in front of screens can contribute to a lack of physical activity and an increased risk of obesity. It also hinders the development of motor skills. Children tap and scroll rather than being active outdoors. All that screen time also affects mental health because of less social interaction, poor sleep quality, and increased feelings of anxiety and depression. Getting them and you out fishing, hunting, hiking, camping and other outdoor activities will help create a healthy balance between screen time and the great outdoors.
Make it a priority to spend time together as a family outdoors doing activities that everyone enjoys. Set an example for your children about the importance of getting outdoors for their well-being. Create limits on screen time. Make outdoor playtime exciting and engaging for your child. Prioritizing the outdoors promotes a healthy and balanced lifestyle for your family. You will also be benefiting yourself.
If you want to know more, all these statistics, facts, and other information are on your smartphone or computer. Just don’t take too much screen time doing it.
The soothing sounds of birds singing, flowing water, geese honking overhead, and wind blowing through the trees await you. The sights of majestic mountains, beautiful sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, butterflies, wildflowers, and eagles flying in the sky are all out there. The feel of a fish on the end of your line. The beauty of a night sky filled with millions of stars as you sit around a campfire watching the flames dance. All that and more is outdoors waiting for you, your kids, and grandkids.
Limited use of smartphones is acceptable on outdoor adventures, but only for taking nature pictures and taping the sounds of nature. They can enjoy them later and hopefully share with friends and family to help get them away from screens and into the great outdoors.
You will be amazed how your life, and your family’s, will change for the better when you reduce the time you spend in front of a screen and increase the time you spend outdoors in nature that God created for all of us.
As much as I would like to sometimes, I cannot go back to the simpler times of the yesterday I grew up in. I can limit my own screen time in the world of today. I can get outdoors to recharge my body and my soul. I hope for your own sake and your family, you also learn to get away from too much screen time.
