The spread of modern technologies linked to the digital world has created a new type of environment for young people. Reality has become synonymous with virtual reality, and almost every action in the real world has its correspondent in the virtual one. It is easier than ever to become immersed in the digital media, and children are born and raised surrounded by these technologies and by parents who use these technologies.
This scenario has created other types of desires and pleasures, the likes of which were not known to people in the past. Before the spread of modern technologies, young people were used to playing outdoors, engage in physical activities and reading books. There were no alternatives to spending their free time in a fun way. Today, almost all activities are done via a computer or mobile device, connected to the internet. Instead of playing football, young people download the latest FIFA video game and play it in multiplayer, with people they do not even know.
3D movies and video games do not stimulate young people’s imagination, the way in which playing outdoors, physical games with friends did in the past. These entertainment methods have slowly decreased the appetite for the simple pleasures in life, creating artificial desires and encouraging them for the simple purpose of mass consumerism. Every single toy nowadays has to be as shiny, interactive and costly as possible. Interactivity is a term that seems to gain more and more importance and value today. However, people forget that books and social games are also interactive entertainment activities – although they do require more imagination and role playing from their “users”.
Capitalism has evolved greatly in the past decades, and has lead to a decadent lifestyle, in which pleasure can only be derived from and is equal to the amount of money that is spent for it. A simple piece of wood can be used creatively by children in their games, but today, parents and children alike seem to have forgotten that. It is more convenient to buy expensive toys and digital devices for a child than it is to read him a bedtime story. And it is also more convenient for a child to play a complex role playing video game such as World of Warcraft than it is to actually go outside and create his or hers own story and role play.
This situation only seems to aggravate in time, as yesterday’s children, who did not have all of the immersive technologies, have raised their children with these technologies from a very young age. The mass media encourages this behavior too, and there seems to be a tacit consensus regarding the negative impact these technologies can have on young people. The old Roman saying, “Mens sana in corpora sano”, seems to have been forgotten. It is no wonder that more than two in 3 adults are considered to be overweight or obese, since they are immersed in the digital world from their youth.
If this situation is to be changed in the future, parents need to pay extra attention to the activities of their children. They need to teach their children how to enjoy the simple things in life, how to play in the physical world and how to use their own imagination. This does not mean that modern technologies are bad in themselves; they can be useful, but only if they are balanced with traditional games and methods of entertainment. There has to be a balance between the time a young person spends online and offline, between the time they spend in the digital world and the time they spend in the physical world.
Also,
young people have to learn, as soon as possible, that money value is just another
type of value, and not at all the only type of value that exists. There are
also spiritual values that a person has to take into account, if they want to enjoy
the true pleasures in live. The simple pleasures are not just cheaper in terms
of the required capital, but also necessary.