Is it just a memory?Nah...The new reality
writing·@mindtrap·
0.000 HBDIs it just a memory?Nah...The new reality
We are heading towards the summer,the windows are wide open and although I live in a quiet area of Attica there is not even a child's voice from outside.And neither is the time nor the day. This is usually the case ... For years now.The only time that children's voices are heard is when schools open and closed... **Decades before these days,the streets were full of children playing,running and climbing. Children in the neighborhood who helped with no intention of forming a social fabric,since through the children playing in the neighborhood their parents were coming alsoqnd they were neighbors,or they were already known** .... The boundaries of the house and the road were not so clearly defined at the time.The kids were going at home both their own and their other friends to get or leave something, get a friend, or just drink an orange juice that a mum was making (usually not just for her own child) ... _I remember every summer as a child I had from a broken hand, foot, finger of the adventures. Such was the time when our noses broke from the fragrances of the gardens ... We danced in the spring, we understood the seasons_... Chase,"apples",explorations in abandoned houses,hide and seek, rope, rubber, readings of forbidden books, bikes, skates ....  [image source](https://goo.gl/images/ttWiAU) We all came through the team game in contact with our limits. Physically and in relation to others. The body was strong as we moved all the time.We were in contact with fear,with the danger and every such confrontation we were able to increase and enlarge us **We knew exactly were our parents were. We knew where we would find them if we needed them and we knew our friends and companions in the game would help in a difficult moment**. Suddenly, as if everyone was afraid, somewhere in the mid-1990s, we all enjoyed what was called _**development**_.  Fortunately, my generation had grown up playing outside.In fact,we accepted the first shocks after the fall of the former Eastern Bloc.Gradually the monarchy of economic globalization prevailed, which meant fundamental changes in the way of everyday life,but mainly changes in the way we perceive it ... Another change is the gradual abolition of the luncheon siesta,which is so indispensable when one is living Mediterranean summers ... And the children were respecting that.Parents made a clear limitation,otherwise the police could interfere if there was a complaint about annoyance at a time of common silence. Today,on the contrary,few respect the time of communal peace of the day.The phone rings mercilessly from bankers, insurance companies and others to sell cards, water filters, insurance, travel,TV antennas and everything else you can imagine.Fewere and fewer are enjoying siesta today ... The children stopped moving.They were restricted for safety reasons by railings and walls. In controlled playgrounds and enclosed playstores(which formed a new form of business).In enclosed environments,children are now playing quietly in front of small and large screens .... The classic fairy tales somewhere around the 90's have changed again.The wolf did not eat the naughty boy nor the goats of the other fairy tale ...  [image source](https://goo.gl/images/eMTJJP) .....*children should not come in contact with such...tough aspects of the story's reality.We had to protect their tender souls from every possible danger* ... ## Protection or overprotection? And as good and necessary is the first, the second is catastrophic ... The threat posed to children has been extended to all levels.Artificial lawns take the place of soil in playgrounds to protect against accidents,but often ignoring the toxicity of new materials.At the same time,excessive protection makes the child soft because it is not required to have the same degree of attention and concentration as before ... Rarely can someone see any children with knees scratched,something that was previously the norm.On the contrary,our children have become experts in new technologies by developing new abilities that previous generations did not have ... Childhood obesity is largely linked to immobility. Although the children are not immobile and at best they go somewhere to extinguish their energy(in a playground or in a playstore usually) this can not be done at such a frequency as the daily play in the neighborhood that did not depend on the availability of an accompanying adult. Full protection does not help children grow up. Clearly cars are more today.But even in pedestrian areas we often do not see children playing freely.This demonstrates a change of mindset and is not always related to reality. There have always been dangers ... There were always "bumps" over all suspicion. Always the boys were fighting more like a game to control their ever-changing body and their strength and less because they wanted to hurt their friend. And there were indeed accidents (but I do not remember any more serious than a fracture). ## But there was something that was invaluable ... the feeling of freedom! This sense of freedom that a child can not currently have in the controlled environment has been the cause of an increasing sense of responsibility.Awareness of avoiding any dangers from the child itself,rather than from a parent worsened social intelligence and we were more adept at perceiving the wicked and good intentions of those around us. But we were not unprotected ... All the neighborhood was like a family. All the big ones watched us together. The depletion of children's energy, exploration, social interest, teamwork, the sense of belonging to a **community**... the things that are lost today for the poor children of the city and the suburbs of Athens and probably of all the big cities of the world... At the same time, a new behavioral fashion of the parents has begun towards the misery of many children .... Every weekend they have to run from morning to night doing "activities" ... This often exhausts parents, but on the other hand it is a natural consequence of closing children in the apartments throughout the week. The children themselves often resent ... As if there is a curse that the child can never be bored. Overloading children with time-consuming educational activities without having any room for play is another frenzy of the time that is naturally related to the anxiety about the future parents have for their children, especially in difficult times. ### And to get to the teenagers ... At the time when sexuality and sociality awaken out of the family, children instead of enjoying their spring, hard study and exercise are required to succeed _**for a better future**_. Here too, the responsibility of the education system over the last 30 years is enormous ... We tend to think that this is natural,but it is done in a few countries, and such an unfortunate case is ours.  [image source](https://goo.gl/images/jV8L4H) Many talented children leave sports, music, or other very beneficial activities that give them joy,just to read about the final exams. Teenagers have not felt what it means to lose your trail.Today no one is lost. Mobile phones are in the hands of children (but also ours) constantly. "Where are you?" You can not save it today easily unless you have the guts The modern life of children (but also of adults)is full of noise (from constantly controlled by adult activities and burden of duty)and fear. It would be unfair if one claimed that once everything was good and today the childhood paradise is lost. It would be also unfair if one were to argue that today children are not developing new skills and capabilities.An example is their familiarity with new technologies. The sense of freedom we once found on the road may be experienced today in other ways, such as through social networking means, or interconnection and non-geographically dependent communication.Even here, however, we often take adults in a very peculiar way. We are talking about why we do not have the experience and we can not understand how the current teen is experiencing. And at this point we are just discovering the generation gap,which, though we want to overlook it, will always rise among the generations because of the political and scientific-technological changes that stigmatize each and every age. And parents are social subjects and we follow the rules of the time.An era where "noise" and modern everyday life leave little time to think. **Think about our own behavior, our own life and everyday life and think about what kind of future adults we are preparing**  Thanks for stopping by Until next time If you truly enjoyed it  Previous posts you might be interested in: https://steemit.com/writing/@mindtrap/it-was-not-the-love-you-received-from-others-that-matured-you-but-the-love-you-gave-to-the-world https://steemit.com/writing/@mindtrap/expect-nothing-from-people-and-everything-will-make-sense https://steemit.com/writing/@mindtrap/second-chances-thanks-i-ll-pass https://steemit.com/writing/@mindtrap/not-every-day-is-a-good-day-live-anyway https://steemit.com/writing/@mindtrap/you-are-never-too-young-to-start-an-empire-and-never-too-old-to-start-a-new-dream https://steemit.com/writing/@mindtrap/never-do-something-permanently-stupid-just-because-you-are-temporarily-upset
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