Growing up, then and now

By Sonia Panesar, Contributor

When I was growing up, there was a lot more disciplining of children compared to now. Parents have different ways of bringing up their children, and this influences their behaviour. Back in the day, when a child did something naughty, they were spanked. These days, the same behaviour is met with a very different treatment: in most cases, they’re just yelled at, or have something valuable taken away. I would say that this is effective in some cases, but not all the time.

Children these days are much more advanced. When I was a kid, there wasn’t much use of the Internet, mobile phones, or social media. It was a life that would be considered boring these days. When you go out, you see children of all ages using some form of technology; even three-year-olds playing games on iPads—but who’s to blame? The parents? I could say that it’s their fault. I was walking by a Kumon Learning Centre the other day, and in the waiting room were a mother and her child. The mother was completely engrossed in her iPhone, and the daughter was engrossed in her iPad. I stopped and thought for a moment that it was a very sad scene.

When I was three, I wanted Barbies or to be outside playing with my sister. I don’t see much of that now because children simply don’t value the time they have. When you’re a child, you have all the time in the world to sleep and play outside, but today’s society goes to sleep late and wakes up early. Why is this? It’s because today’s children want to stay up late watching TV or getting to the next level of their video game, and they wake up the next morning wanting to follow the same routine. What’s happened to the good old days of our childhood?

Have you thought about the TV shows that come out these days? If not, I would advise you to take a look at a network like the Disney Channel, where there are shows like Shake it Up. The story lines are absolutely bizarre, and they don’t have any educational purposes whatsoever. Even though children may watch these shows as leisure programs, there is nothing important about them, and I fail to see what’s so interesting.

Growing up, I remember wanting my parents to buy me things like a new bike, or new toys, while five-year-old kids these days want a new laptop or phone! I didn’t even think of owning such advanced devices at that age. The parents who listen to their children’s demands for all this technology are making a huge mistake, because when these children grow up, the only memories they’ll have will be of video games and TV.