A Need To Be Entertained

I think today's kids get bored as quickly as we did, the difference, our parents said go out and play. My mom would say it was my fault if I were bored. But then again , I had real friends , not ones online. We were able to play outside until dark.there was t.v. but only after your home work was done and there were only 4 or 5 channels.it is sad that parents feel better if their kid is " safe " indoors in front of a computer.But then again, we didn't have the pressure to succeed. If a child failed a grade, the school didn't lose any funding. our parents wanted us to do well but we had the summer to relax. The summer wasn't a time to get ahead in school . There weren't any year round schools.With all this, today's kids are busier than we were and bored to tears.

I feel happy to have been born when I was and recall the old tv shows and such. I even recall the old radio shows and the old comedy acts and things. I think we have all had a shock to our systems and it is hard to view things like we used to. We are so used to having it all done for us now days. I remember when I was little I had an old broom stick and pretended it was my horse. I had hours fun on that old broomstick too. Remember Chickheart? Bill Cosby. Even a busy internet frustrates us now days. Sadly it only gets worse. We all want it now or yesterday.

I feel that we have measured our own success by whether or not we can afford all of the technology, and it is a false measurement. I like a mix of all kinds of entertainment, and I find that being outside is incredibly soothing.Kids cannot be allowed to be outdoors nowadays, both parents work and the "bad guy" Is lurking to get them. It is sad. They do play highly competitive sports, very structured, but no free play to speak of.

Great discussion! I've thought this same thing for several years now. It seems we're not as creative these days, or perhaps it's just that there's nothing to test our creativity. I learned at a very young age to amuse myself and it really didn't take much at all. My friends and I always wanted to be outside all day until our parents MADE us come in and we didn't have that many toys or fancy gadgets, we just made things up to do. We didn't even have cable TV in my house until I was well into my teens and home computers and video games hadn't even been invented. When we HAD to be indoors we played cards or board games or did things like READ and DRAW - imagine that! You're so right about kids not going outside to play these days. All through the years I delivered mail I noticed there were loads of swing-sets and swimming pools in the yards of the homes I served but there was hardly ever anyone using them. That's very sad. Annie

I think we've become such an insular society - even within families people don't talk and communicate the way we used to. I used to love board and card games when I was younger, and I keep trying to get people interested in having a card night or board game night, but nobody seems interested. They'd rather sit in front of the television or computer screen instead. I rarely turn on the tv myself, and don't tend to use the computer at home, seeing as I have to use it all day at work - I prefer to knit, read or listen to music.

When I was a little kid we did this crazy thing to entertain ourselves called 'going outside'. Unfortunately that has been all but replaced by things like video games. Even little things like working up the courage to call a boy or girl you had a crush on are almost non existent now. Why call someone and risk actually having to speak to them and possibly be rejected when you can just text or instant message them? I hate how social interaction has changed so much, I think it's starting to effect peoples' personalities and the way they behave in society and it's really sad.

I do think that we have lost the ability to find things to entertain ourselves. I think the kids today have lost the ability to use their imaginations most of the time.

I do pick up board games as much as I can but I think at least I have lost the battle to technology as far as my son goes. Forget books and outdoor games….its either the TV or the computer most of the time. Things have come to such a pass that nowadays, he even draws on the computer and colours his pictures then and there. Even if he is looking for ideas to decorate something, its always the net for him…he hardly puts in the effort to think of something on his own.

yes the society is turning into one of isolation, they computer games are geared for one person playing with a lot of ghosts on the net. Socializing with people in your own community is on the decline. I don't read a book, but I write them and I have to read a lot of stuff on the internet for my e-zine and my research work as well.

I agree with you on this. I hear a lot of childern now days talking about playing with their video games. WII, ps 3 and such and even adults I admit it myself. I am on my computer to much. Either that or I want to watch a movie on DVD. I still enjoy reading books which has always been one of my favorite forms of entertainment before I go to sleep and when it is raining outside.

I'm in total agreement with everything you've said. I'm a bit remiss in so far as I do not read as much as I used to. I also don't sew or do any craft work. But I believe I'm keeping my brain agile by using the computer and other technology like Playstation. My grandkids have a Wii with the sports thingy but they use the least amount of movement necessary....take bowling for instance...I was unable to do the run up but I could still pull the ball back and put it where I wanted it and follow through...the kids used the minimum of hand movements ...same with tennis...such a cop-out. We are a family of readers. Even my grandson who was a very slow starter and still does not read well (he is developmentally disabled)loves to read and otherwise has his head inside his laptop. Unfortunately his younger sister neither reads nor is technically savvy which I think is the way a lot of youngsters will go. She's a friendly little girl and her social skills are great.

I have to agree, kids today depend too much on electronic entertainment and this has caused, among other thing, an increase in the percentage of children who are overweight. When I was a kid we rode our bikes, or went for walks, played ball, tag, skipped rope...and I was an avid reader throughout my teens. Now, my grandsons complain when my daughter makes them and their friends turn off the playstation and go outside to play. If I'm home they come over to try to use mine but they're not tricking me! Once they get going on their bikes and skateboards they have a lot of fun but it's the getting them up off their butts part that's hard. I do believe that if you feed your children a constant diet of television...use it as a babysitter...they grow up expecting to be entertained 24/7.

I have 5 kids, 4 of whom are adults. when my older ones were kids, they managed to entertain themselves well by playing outside, riding bikes, skating, whatever. now with my 13 year old and 12 year old stepson they are always "bored". it makes me crazy because on the weekends I still have household stuff to do so we can't always take them places. sometimes I can get them to go out and play basketball but mainly they want to be on the computer or playing video games. it is a different world today for kids than it was 10 years ago. i think it has changed for the worse. personally i do play board games and cards with my 13 year old and she likes that but she complains too much that she has nothing to do. i tell her that her problem is that she has too many choices. i also notice that kids don't play outside like they used to. when i was a kid i didn't want to be inside. my bike was my life and when the streetlights went on that was the signal that we had to come inside. i loved being outside. we could spend hours playing in a refrigerator box! i hate to sound like an old person but technology overall has not been a positive thing. don't even get me started on cellphones!

GREAT DISCUSSION! i grew up in the 70's and 80's and though my family was always on the cutting edge of technology, thanks to my father's interest in such things, both professionally and personally (we had the first home computer in the county i grew up in, as far as anyone can tell) we did a lot of other things, as well. we lived way out in the country so the TV reception was terrible. i mean, really terrible. some of my friends in town had cable TV but it was not available out where we lived. and satelite TV had not come along yet, at least not to our area. i spent a lot of time reading, walking in the woods with my dog, listening to LP's (yes, folks.....VINYL! music used to come on huge plastic discs!) or the radio, drawing, painting, playing imaginary games, trying to teach myself a variety of crafts, and when i felt like it, playing with my brother and sister. my brother and i are very close now, but growing up we were not, so i didn't take much interest in him. i was closer to my sis, who is 8 years younger than me. i used to dress her up and put make-up on her and play with her. she was like my own living doll, in the best possible way. now that we are older, i am closer to my brother. i LOVE my computer, cell phone, cable TV, DVD player, satellite radio etc. but i don't have to have them to entertain myself. i still enjoy reading and all sorts of fiber arts, starting with spinning my own yarn down to knitting or crocheting the finished project. if i did not live in town i would even raise my own sheep. these hobbies are all based from learning to crochet when i was 12 and having a lot of time alone in my room to practice and see what i could come up with. i LOVE taking care of and being with my animals. i have 2 dogs, 4 cats, and 2 rabbits, and i can't imagine life without them. they are entertaining in their own right, they are always doing cute/funny things, and the simple day to day of proper care is entertainment for me in and of itself. technology is great, but kids need to be limited on how much they used it and encouraged to use their minds to create. and they need a certain amount of time alone to let the creativity flow. kids who are alone with no one and nothing to entertain them for a few hours a day seem more likely to find their imagination. i'm so glad to see that my neighbor, who i like a lot, is fostering these vlaues in her kids. they have all the modern conveniences, but i have certainly heard her say "go outside and play" or go to your room and find something to do quite often. not in an angry way, but just that she feels that kids need more than technology to have a healthy, happy, well-rounded life.

I agree with you on some of your points. For one there should be more family time with your kids like board games instead of shoving a controller in their and closing the door. Just like you, I enjoy all the technology we have today, but sometimes we need to step away from it and find different ways to entertain ourselves. Simulate our minds in different ways t other than playing an Xbox or a Wii.