Park Contemplations

One day in April, I was working on my book at a local park. I was using my voice text on my phone to type up notes concerning the book I was writing about dementia care at the time. When I got to the park, there were two groups of children playing on the big toy and the swingset respectively. From being out in nature and typing my notes, catching up on some much-needed Vitamin D from the winter months, I noticed a couple of things:

1) Kids actually still go outside.

In process of getting older, although only 23 at the time, I've grown quite cynical of generations below me. Just as the generation before me was under the assumption that Millennials would amount to very little, I was under the impression that the Youth of Generation Z would be hiding and doors, engaging an antisocial activities and sitting on their cell phones and Xbox all day long. I was happy to note that this was not the case, and that on a wonderful day such as today, they were still outside enjoying the Sun at each other's company.

2) The youth in 2018 used much more vulgarity.

when I was a kid, if you use any sort of vulgar language, your mouth got smacked. Now, I would place these children at about 7 to 12 years old, and they swear like sailors. Very fascinating.

3) Their language is much more inclusive then the generations before.

I actually overheard a conversation with two of the older kids as they were talking about lgbtq and trying to identify who in the group might be. They talked about it openly, however, which is something that would have never happened when I was their age. this could potentially be the beginnings of positive culture change.

4) They still play games together.

One group of children were sitting at the big toy chatting away together, and another group went up to the basketball court to play kickball together. I'm so glad to see that kids are still going outside and participating in Pro social activities and games together, as I thought it was a long lost art myself. I just hope this continues for years to come.

I am by no means whatsoever bashing on any one particular generation or group of individuals in general. I am simply noticing observations I made about the world around me in recent years. Things are changing rapidly, and sometimes, I feel as though I cannot keep up. However, that's for the way the world is going, it's not as bad as people interpret it to be. Kids still have the ability to have kids, and exercise that right freely. We are all getting older, there's nothing we can do to change that. So it's important to remember to slow down and enjoy the sunlight at the park once in awhile.