No, I’m not talking about the politically correct term for a dwarf/midget. I’m talking about kids and what they are these days. I see people bitching about kids who are too young to dress the way they do, talk the way they do or do what they do. And while I agree with a lot of the complaints, I just think that maybe the way we look at kids is wrong. Maybe we should stop seeing them as little innocent beings who do cute things and love Pokemon and unicorns and see them as people who aren’t so different to us.
I mean I like Pokemon and I think unicorns are a useful concept for messing with theists. So, maybe I’m more like a kid than I previously thought.
Anyway, it depends on how you consider these people.
Children are seen in two different lights in history. The first is the miniature, stupid, adult who is only a child until they advance in age to a point where they can take on adult tasks. These should be seen and not heard. These should keep their opinions to themselves and should watch and learn. Effectively, children were just apprentice adults and that’s kinda true. They don’t start with the knowledge to actively function in this world. You kinda pick it up as you go along.
Secondly, we have the ‘innocent children who should run free and happy who need constant protection from the horrors of the world’ concept. This one I actually disagree with because kids aren’t these innocent, defenceless little angels. They’re people, simple people but people nonetheless. They don’t need protection until they’re eighteen or twenty-one because as soon as they hit that age they are just going to be overwhelmed by all the shit you’ve been protecting them from. It’s like not getting chicken pox as a kid and then getting it as an adult. That and kids are often able to cut through the crap that older people tell you. Kids are honest as hell because they can be.
So, if you’re thinking about kids you have to consider your definition of ‘kid’. Is it the mini-adult in training who is worthless until it can hold a salary? Or, is it this little immaculate, innocent, naive little being who should be protected until it’s old enough to vote?
I say both those ideas are broken. Kids are people, very simple people at times and very complex at others. The important fact is that they are not so different to adults. I know adults who can’t handle scary movies as well as kids who love them. I know kids who devour books and adults who think touching a book is repulsive. I know kids who write in proper sentences and I know adults who are yet to master the comma.
Fact is kids are a little like the humble goldfish. People think they’re stupid, when they can actually learn to do some quite complex tasks, (well complex for goldfish). And they grow to fit the size of their bowl. A kid will grow to fit the scope of how you treat ‘em. Treat them like little degenerates and you’re going to get some little degenerates. Treat them like their your pals and maybe you’ll get some pals.
So, next time you talk to a little cousin or the little kid you’re babysitting, ask them what they think of that politician or that current global event. Then ask five people on Facebook the same question.
What response would you get?
Ever notice the amount of kids with more technological toys than you?
I’m talking about the kids with the most recent iPads, pods, phones, tunes, MacBooks (fucking macbooks) and you’re rocking a 1st to 3rd generation iPod, a basic phone and the simple desktop set-up. These kids are kids; Twelve to fifteen and they don’t know what the fuck they are doing with these things. They’re on social media, chatting away to their friends using phrases like, ‘c u l8ter xoxox’ and ‘your so cuute’, doubling up vowels, using the crappy text talk like it’s still useful and generally just aggravating your older, wiser and superior mind.
This is what we have to look forward to. We can look forward to a generation that has grown up on Facebook, grown up with the iPhone/pad/pod/tunes and will use these things and whatever replaces them for the majority of their lives. The big question is, should we look forward to it or should we try to crush it now?
I looked at it for a little while and thought, ‘What possible use do they have for these things? I didn’t need ‘em and to be honest I still don’t. What the fuck could they talk about anyway? Who has the coolest light-up shoes? What are they listening to? Beiber? The latest bloody Gaga or Adele song? The latest Skrillex bullshit? Are they discussing crappy games like MW3 and terrible shows like Jersey Shore?’.
Problem is that is exactly the kind of thing these kids are likely to use tech for. That and the endless conversations of who has a crush on who and who is cool. Terrible right? Not the kind of thing people who are 16+ use Facebook for. Not the kind music real people listen to. Not the kind of games real people play. Not the kinds of show real people watch and talk about.
Nope. Never. That’s totally not what we intelligent, sophisticated, superior, self-assured, responsible and forward thinking young adults use these technological devices for.
Not at all.
So, these kids that we look at with contempt, bewilderment and scorn are really no better than us. Maybe they’re naive and stupid but aren’t we all? Are their tastes really worse than ours? Are these kids really spoiled and ruined already?
Or are they just ahead of the curve? Catching up to us?
Fact is these kids are just more obvious versions of ourselves. They talk about the same crap, more or less, and often in the same way. They just don’t rationalise it or make it more complicated than what it is. They’re straight up idiots. They don’t hide it away like we all do.
So, before you condemn the kids of iPods/pads/phones and tunes, think about what you do with these things. Think about what you do on Facebook, Tumblr or Twitter.
Is it so different from what they do?
