The good old days! It is just mind boggling for me whenever I realize that I’ve known some people for more than 20 years! Whhaaaat!!! Am I that old? I still remember the shock on my face and the way I looked around in confusion the first day someone referred to me as ‘ma’. Who, me? But I’m certainly no spring chicken no more (sob, sob). I belong to the generation when TV stations started by 4pm and before they did, we all excitedly gazed at the colour bars on our television sets waiting for them to start the day’s business (assuming you had adequately done your home work). Beyond TVs, there were the VHS video machines which our parents may allow us to turn on over the weekends…again, only if homework and house chores had been completed. The only other source of distraction which was acceptable to our parents and could be practiced at all times, was reading. As a child, I read voraciously starting from ladybirds to Pacesetters and, yes, Mills and Boon! Uh! That tall, handsome and rich guy who was to come sweep me off my feet!!! From there I moved on and explored other worlds of books and eventually arrived at the stables of John Grisham…the master story teller, with wit, sarcasm and suspense. I find myself screaming out with laughter whenever I read any of his novels….till today. My driver always steals surreptitious glances through the rear view mirror…almost as if he were wondering when it would be appropriate to scream for help (Help! My boss has gone crazy!) J

Speaking of novels, have you ever wondered how many children we see these days reading a book? They absolutely hate the idea of that, what with television on from morning till forever, with all manner of programs, newer and ‘better’ video games coming out every single day. These children are well versed in spoken English but cannot correctly write down this grammar they so eloquently speak. They do not know synonyms, antonyms, verbs, nouns, adjectives, collective nouns and all those stuff they made us learn (and boy, did you have to learn?!) every single day. These children have lost…scratch that…never even had the opportunity to learn logical reasoning. And so, we are bringing up children who are intellectually and mentally lazy: Unable to think for themselves and certainly not able to think outside the box.

Now, before you al l (or maybe some of you) crucify me for being a party pooper, let me explain that I love the Generation Z children (can we shorten this to Gen Zeezers…just thinking); those children born between 1995 and 2012…I mean, I really have no choice. I’ve got three of them and I love them to bits!  I also do not have anything against these games and I certainly love my TV shows over the weekends. BUT, these activities should not become the focal point of our existence. Younger mothers plop their children down before the television as a babysitting ploy. Our children are beginning to find it difficult to think for themselves, reason a problem all the way through or even make the effort to reflect on anything. They want quick answers and they want it now. They get it from the internet…which is a good thing, but they’ve got to be able to even think about the issues they want to research before getting the easy answers.

The problem has moved beyond the homes to the work places. You interview tens to find one and hundreds to find ten. These young men and women cannot answer the most mundane of questions and sometimes, look around almost like they are looking for hints from somewhere.

What’s the solution? Let’s get these children busy with other stuff. They have to read a book for at least 2 hours every day; where they fail that, withdraw some privileges…and don’t let the puppy dog face fool you!  When they come to you with a problem, get them to think it through and try to figure out a solution before you even offer an opinion; Homework and projects are meant to be done by them. You are only to provide strategic support in terms of asking questions that lead them to question what they have done. We used to play a game when we were young, where we would have a very long word and the contest was to find the person who would make the most words out of that long word. This helped us think of all the words in there and better still, we never looked at a word ‘ordinarily’. We were always trying to figure out how many words could be formed from any word we saw…long or short. It was fun and it is still fun today…at least my children ‘pretend’ to enjoy it…path of least resistance, I guess :D. Remember to try and explain the reasons for these activities you’ve planned for them. Much as it is so cool (I think J) to say, ‘just because mummy or daddy said so!’, it is probably better and helps with building their mental health to explain the benefits of what you are asking them to do. They probably would want to do it without much persuasion subsequently. And, this is a different generation from ours when we did ‘exactly’ as we were told without asking questions….I’m still trying to figure out if this is a good change or not. Oh, the good old days…..What do you think?

Get children to play scrabble…in fact play with them. It builds their vocabulary…even those crazy, I-don’t know-what-they-mean words! Get them to play monopoly…it teaches them the rudiments of financial management and don’t be too quick to solve life’s problems for them. They’ve got to learn that life is full of curves and be prepared to handle what life throws at them. This is called tough love and builds mental health as well as develops their character. We see so many people today who stand for nothing…a man has got to stand for something!

Remember that the more time they spend in front of the television or playing all those games, the less time they also spend outside…playing football, riding bikes, chasing after each other, playing lawn tennis, skipping etc. In fact several studies have linked excessive television watching and by extension all those handheld and computer games playing with a high incidence of obesity and the resulting medical conditions that go with that including Diabetes and Hypertension. This has to stop. Imagine a child who is born into a family of hypertensives and already has to deal with the burden of knowing that he is pre-disposed to same, living a lifestyle that clearly pushes him into that condition. He could have side-stepped this if we, as parents, take the right steps to get them to do the right thing. Please note that playing outside is also a function of neighbourhoods: If safe, pull out all the stops. If not, find other means of getting them to exercise…maybe enrolling in a swimming class in a club, dancing class, organizing play dates with their friends that live in safer neighbourhoods etc.

Please note that children should actually be making about 12,000 steps per day. Do I see you nodding your head and assuming that they must rack this up…what with all the activities they manage to invent per day? Or when they get to school? Get them pedometers…the result will shock you. They don’t!

We’ve got to do something, people, to improve our children’s mental and physical health by giving them more recreational activities than television and game consoles. Let’s safeguard the next generation. They’ll thank you for it at some time in their lives. I once came across the saying,’ by the time you are old enough to know your parents were right, you probably have children who think you are wrong!’ So, maybe not today, but…sometime in the very fuzzy future, there will be an ‘Ahah’ moment and you’ll be glad, you made that happen.

Here’s to a healthier generation of children…and a healthier you!