The PSP generation

I hate to say it, but I am a bit pessimistic about the future of art and science in this country. Many children today are practically raised by their game systmes, their computers and their TVs-put in front of them to be entertained for hours, watching their high-tech, high def. blue ray DVDs, and playing their computer, Wii, and PSP games. They are constantly engaged in visually-engaging, but mindless activities. They can navigate the internet better than I can, and they become impatient if they have to wait a few seconds for a page to display, or a game to load. Everything around them today is fast-paced, convenient, instant-gratification oriented, one-click. We have created this society for our comfort, as adults, but have given no thought to what being raised in this sort of world will do to our children.

God, I can’t believe I’m going to say this, because I’m only twenty-four years old, but when I was a child, my favorite toy was a cardboard refrigerator box. I had toys, though there weren’t as many kinds as there are today, but I had plenty. Dolls, Barbies, My Little Ponies, Glow Worms, Fraggles, Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids. But these toys didn’t talk or move on their own. Without pretending they did, they weren’t very entertaining. I had a Playskool kitchen set. Kids today have Playskool laptops. There was no such thing as a laptop when I was younger. We were one of the first in our neighborhood to have a home computer, and I must have been ten. There was the basic Nintendo system, but I wasn’t allowed to have one, because my parents thought it was mind-numbing. And they were right.

As I mentioned, my favorite toy was a big box. It was any place I had to be at the time. It would be my house, then I would walk out of it, circle it a few times, step back in, and it was a grocery store. Things like that gave me the imagination I have today, and I am so thankful for it. Without imagination, there will be no more new inventions, no new philosophies, and no art. I fear that we are raising a generation that will only be able to apply and utilize, and not create.

My mother is a preschool teacher, and when she asks he children to “make believe” something, they are at a loss. So, please, parents, teachers, encourage your children to use their imaginations, rather than just their hands, eyes, and reflexes to enjoy their free time. Think, and the next time you’re in a store, buy them some art supplies, perhaps, instead of more DVDs or PSP games.