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vic johnson

Trying to retire - LOL,

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Are we depriving our children?

Are we depriving our children? I was born in 1927 and grew up during the thirties. Times were tough. Unemployment hovered over thirty percent. Needless to say there was not many store bought toys or games around. Television was still in the future. So what did the kids in the neighborhood do? We got creative. We played all the old games and made up new ones. Girls made dolls by stuffing an old sock with rags and painting on a face. Often their play dishes was a piece of bark or a coffee can lid Boys got out their jack knifes and made whistles from the small branch of an alder tree or made a slingshot from the crouched branch of a vine maple then with a pocket full of rocks we went big game hunting. We cut and smoothed a branch to make a fishing pole. We taught our dogs and cats to do trucks. We all went on hikes and we explored. The only boundary was the outer limit of our imagination. Life was good.

Then the war came. It has been said that a big reason we won was because we were so resourceful. That may or may not be but I'm sure it was a factor and I'm sure I've pointed a finger at the source of that resourcefulness. How does this relate to kids today? Both mom and dad are holding down jobs out of the house. The kids come home from school and get plunked down in front of the TV or they grab a video game or some other electronic gismo that is already programmed and while away the hours pushing buttons. Then after they tire of that there are 2 or more hours of home work. It takes a good deal of dexterity and practice to win those games but of at least the ones I've played, very little imagination.

If that old saying: "Use it or lose it." is true kids will soon lose their imagination and along with it their creativity. That will be a sad day for all.

BTW a word to you skeptics. Yes, you can teach a cat to do tricks. LOL


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    Nov 18 2011: Yes Vic you are doing that. First erase the Disneylandization, then we can discuss about.
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      Nov 19 2011: Ok They are gone
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        Nov 19 2011: No Vic they are not gone.

        Maybe you win the material war, as you said, but US lose the cultural status in the images war.

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