Kids today lucky, or losing out?

EACH morning, I drive over a bridge, across a magnificent river, in the direction of a hulking mountain range. To my left are sand dunes and to the right, the Indian ocean.

When you’ve got a lot of undeveloped land and rolling farms in your orbit, it’s naturally easy to take for granted nature’s bounty.

In fact, since satellite TV landed (eventually) in South Africa, you would probably experience it even better in surround sound and high-resolution colour, without having to spend petrol or toll fees.

That’s technology for you. Looks, feels and sounds like the real thing, but isn’t. I know that and so do you – but these days, I’m not sure that our children will.

In our house, mom and dad earn their keep almost exclusively thanks to technology. There’s a bit of old-fashioned, manual skill required, but ultimately, the hub and I rely on the mysterious gadgetry of underground cables and wireless genius to keep in touch with the world and offer it our services. In short, I’m really not sure where we’d be (certainly nowhere near a magnificent river and hulking mountain range) if the 21st century hadn’t gifted us with our laptop and Mac.

Which is why I’m no left-wing, anti-modernist tyrant, despite my husband’s suspicions to the contrary. I just would like, very much, to know that somewhere in the midst of touch screens, instant communication and 24/7 availability via mobile phones and other intrusive thingamajigs, people now under age 12 will grow up appreciating grass between their toes and actual, real-time chats under the stars (the actual ones, in the real sky, neither of which require plug-ins or charging).

This may seem a pointless worry for both parents of very young kids and those whose crops have grown up already, but you’re the lucky ones. We in the middle – the Generation X folks who are raising terribly techno-savvy sprogs – must be ninja-like in the face of addiction to Google and YouTube.

I’ve recently read several articles claiming either severe damage or unparalleled riches for today’s kids (and adults), thanks to technological advancement and our wireless world. Who to believe? No matter how much we dig at this topic, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive answer; probably because we’re all pioneering new terrain together, with no real idea where we’re headed.

I used to worry about my daughter’s screen-time, but now, not so much. Primarily, because it’s a beast that you can’t beat. The only way to tame it is to walk away – several times a week and preferably along a river, near mountains. Or at least into some living, green stuff that actually grows in the soil, and not on a screen.

The withdrawal symptoms of being gadget-free are not pretty. I’ve seen my children claim boredom and embrace grumpiness like ex-smokers on their first day; but it works.

After several days of banning phones and music on the way to school, my oldest finally looked up yesterday and said: ‘Yoh, mom, that river’s pretty.’ Ja, skat, it is.