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Is technology ruining childhoods? How did literature shape our generation's upbringing? And, are you glad you weren't an iPad kid?
As I’ve grown older, technology has improved at a rapid pace. When I was a kid the most a phone could do outside of making calls was play snake or take some of the blurriest photos imaginable. If I wanted to entertain myself at home I would have to hope that there was something good on the TV, I’d read a book, or I would go outside and play football with friends. It’s not uncommon nowadays to see a toddler glued to an iPad watching YouTube instead of doing what a kid should be doing; making friends, playing, and learning.
I remember how I used to look forward to whenever a new Skullduggery Pleasant book was released. I would talk with my friend about it at school in anticipation and we would both read it in the space of a night. Was staying up until four o’clock in the morning reading a good idea? Not really, but I loved it regardless.
I don’t think that it’s a controversial opinion to believe that the entertainment that I grew up with was of a much higher quality than the comparable slurry of uninspired low quality content produced for kids on YouTube. Companies have an incentive to make as much money off of their content as possible. It makes sense that in order to maximise shareholder value they would make it addictive as possible in order to keep the kids watching.
Different worlds that a child could be experiencing through reading are instead replaced with soulless, meaningless entertainment.
Handing a child an iPad instead of a book deprives them of the joy and benefits that reading provides. Different worlds that a child could be experiencing through reading are instead replaced with soulless, meaningless entertainment. Reading enables kids to build up critical language skills in expanding their vocabulary and improving at writing, something that these videos simply can’t replace.
In recent years, whenever I’ve found myself in possession of a small amount of free time while waiting for friends or taking the train into town, I’ve often started scrolling on my phone just to kill the time. But that’s just it, killing time. I find myself wasting what little time I have to myself in this life glued to my phone scrolling through reels or TikTok just to not feel the awkwardness of being. In a way we are all hardwired to have these tendencies.
Last night I decided to put a stop to this, instead of uncomfortably scrolling through my phone while I waited for my friends to show up to the bar I took out a book to read. With some smooth jazz in the background, I found myself immersed in another world reading under the dim light jutting from the brick wall facing me. I wouldn’t describe 1984 as a light read, but it certainly brought me a sense of calm and contentness while I waited as opposed to staring at my phone’s screen wishing the time away.
In a way, many of us have become iPhone adults.