Nowadays, digital technology and media are everywhere; you can’t live without them. They are implemented everywhere in everyday life, for example when you go to the supermarket, use public transport, go shopping… you need your phone everywhere, because everything is done via digital technology. You can no longer imagine a world without it.
When I was young, about fifteen years ago, there was much less technology. It was just starting to become a bit more popular and more and more digital products were coming into the market. This was a turning point. My parents didn’t think it was good for children to try out lots of digital products. They didn’t mind us watching television now and then, but otherwise we didn’t have many technological gadgets around the house.
When I was playing with friends, we sometimes played with digital technology. For example, they had a Nintendo, where you could take care of animals, or sometimes we played online games on the computer. I always enjoyed playing “Fireboy & Watergirl”, an online game where two people had to complete levels. Playing with two people on one keyboard was always a fun experience. This was my favourite game on the computer back then, because you really had to work together to complete the level. Nowadays, there aren’t as many games where you have to work together. I think that’s a shame, because for me it always gave the game an extra boost and was also just a lot more fun.
Young people still play a lot of games, but I feel that this has become much more individual. I always saw children in the younger classes sitting in a row next to each other in the school playground, playing games on their phones. They didn’t make a sound or connect with each other, they just sat there next to each other, playing their own games. I don’t understand what’s fun about that. You’re sitting there with your friends, but you’re not interacting with each other at all. I think that’s such a shame!
I therefore find the term “experience blockers” very appropriate for this topic. Due to the frequent use of digital devices, this is often the only thing young people can think about. They no longer get bored, because they immediately dive into their phones. Sometimes it is good to be bored for a while, because that is when your creative side comes to the fore. You start to think much more broadly about what you can do with this precious time. In this way, you create experiences that shape your life, because you don’t do this behind a screen.
Experiences last a lifetime, whereas screen time is essentially wasted time. If you ask someone what they saw an hour ago while scrolling through Instagram, they wouldn’t know. It’s a real shame that you waste your precious time on this and don’t even get anything out of it.
I am therefore very grateful that I grew up at a time when there was still plenty of space outside of all the digital technology to do other things. I cherish those experiences very much and I think they are essential for shaping yourself as a person.
SOURCES:
– Kuipers, M. (2024, 29 augustus). De impact van digitale technologie op de mentale gezondheid van jongeren. Trauma Trainingen. https://www.traumatrainingen.nl/de-impact-van-digitale-technologie-op-de-mentale-gezondheid-van-jongeren/
Plays.org. (2023, 5 november). Play Firegirl & Waterboy in the Forest Temple Game: Free Online 2-Player Fire Girl and Water Boy Room Escape Video Game for Kids & Adults. https://plays.org/firegirl-and-waterboy-in-the-forest-temple/
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