#RediscoverNature: Is Technology Killing Childhood?
'Nature has always been a part of childhood. Let’s make sure it doesn’t stop with us.'
That's the slogan of a new ad by granola bar company Nature Valley which presents a
foreboding prediction for the future of our technology-obsessed generation. In
the video, three generations of Canadian families are asked the same question:
When you were a kid, what did you do for fun?
The oldest generation reminisce about blueberry-picking,
sledding and fishing. For the next generation, more of the same – hide-and-seek,
baseball and fort-building. Then the upbeat tone of the ad takes a dramatic
turn as the youngest generation describe watching television, texting and playing
video games for hours. ‘Just last week I watched 23 episodes of a TV series in less
than 4 days. Whenever I feel upset I play video games and I feel normal,’ says one
boy. ‘I would die if I didn’t have my
tablet,’ a younger girl admits. The most worrying is this boy’s response: ‘I
forget I’m in a house, I have parents, I have a sister, I have a dog – I just
think I’m in the video game, I get completely lost.’
The adults are then asked what they think will happen to
their great-great-grandchildren if the trend continues. ‘It’s scary to think
that they’ll never have to leave the house,’ says one parent. ‘That special
connection with nature, I think it’s innate in all children, but needs to be
nurtured.’ The ad then asks viewers to share their photos and stories with the
hashtag #RediscoverNature.
It’s true that these are some extreme examples which demonise
technology and social media, but it
plays on a very contemporary debate. Last year Allison Slater Tate wrote an
article for the Washington Post about parenting in the Internet age. Even
though Tate is Twitter and Instagram savvy herself, she says that it’s scary
how the internet can shape and change the experience of children from that of
their parents and grandparents. Would the kids in The Breakfast Club even talk to each other in a Saturday morning
detention today, in an age when teenagers can have entire relationships over
text messages, asks Tate?
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| Google images |
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| variety.com |
Older generations would argue that technology is destroying
conversation, not enhancing it. But either way, technology is permanently
changing in today’s world, and children need to be trained to use it properly
and to its fullest potential. Some commenters on videos of the Nature Valley ad
posted online say that it places too much fear in what’s different. And it can’t
escape from the irony that the connective capabilities enabled by the Internet are
essential to the commercial success of any company or corporation today.
Aaron Waterhouse
Aaron Waterhouse
Aaron is a recent English graduate from Durham University who is now working as a content writer intern. An enthusiastic traveller, he hopes to become a journalist and report from around the world. Follow him @AaronAtSMF
#RediscoverNature: Is Technology Killing Childhood?
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
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Thursday, July 16, 2015
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