retroactively 10

Ahoy,

Now that the last day of school has passed, and summer is safely on the horizon, I want to make sure I get these notes to my 10 yr old self and all the 10 yr olds out there (of my 2 readers, I imagine none that frequent this blog are 10).

With the impending electronic age, I want to express the alarm I feel for the age at which it is appropriate to play. The digital natives (a term I learned from the RRS the one time I was listening) I'm noticing are spending their days and nights plugged in. I am saddened by this because as a kid, I think I had a lot of fun running around outside and I think that is the kind of childhood that every child should continue to engage in. There are only so many opportunities in your life you will have to play without abandon. There is nothing like meeting your friends or making new ones at the neighborhood park. There is nothing like exploring and discovering your own backyard. There is certainly nothing like good ol' fashionded summer competition to see who is the fastest or can hold their breath the longest. Especially in Chicago, summer, I feel, is the epitome of childhood.

I remember the beckoning of summer every year as my knees turned up scraped in every manner. I remember the smell of chlorine and sunblock that lingered on my darkened skin even though I had scrubbed with a sponge. I remember staying out until the sun was down and greeting the fireflies as my mother continued to call us in for dinner. My memories of a childhood spent with nothing to do but have fun I hope are not a relic of times gone by, a facet of a different generation that did not make it into the next.

It's strange to me that 10 yr olds today will spend the summer playing computer games and video games on devices that require batteries or electricity, just as they had throughout the rest of the year - even in the winter. It's strange to me that parents would trade physical activity that only summer can afford for the safety and comfort of electronic entertainment. It's strange to me that kids will spend their summer indoors and clean. A childhood well spent, to me, will always include getting dirty, and being so physically tired that you are asleep before your head hits the pillow. I would hope that 10 yr olds continue to play, and I would hope that if you see a 10 yr old - you tell him to go outside and play. Childhood is a magical time, not only in a world seen through a screen.

perceptively impish,
jt