The other day, a parent was telling me that they had to scold their child for their inappropriate use of Instagram. They also had to reprimand them for their use of Facebook.
That got me thinking, parents have so much more to deal with than they did when we were kids.
Here's a bunch of things my parents didn't have to worry about when I was a kid:
 |
| via |
Cellphones
When I was ten, no one had a cellphone. If a friend wanted to talk to me, they'd call my house. Simple. Now it seems like every other ten year old has a cellphone. And if they don't have one, they want one. You're ten. What could you possibly need a cellphone for?
Expensive Toys
The most expensive toy I ever wanted was a Furby. My dad thought they were ridiculous and wouldn't get me one, so I saved up and bought myself one for a whole $50 then never played with it ever again. That was a lot of money to me then. Who am I kidding? That's still a lot of money to me. But, now kids are asking for things like the PS4 and the XBox One, for a whole $499. $499?? Get out of here!
Safety
Don't get me wrong, safety of your child should be of utmost importance no matter what decade you were born in. But, it seems like parents worry now more than ever.
I started taking public transportation by myself when I was nine. I asked my dad if he would have let me take it by myself if I were nine now and his answer was no.
When did things change?
 |
| via Ha, this took me a second to understand. |
Faster Download Speeds
When I first got internet, it used the phone line. When I would connect to the internet, it would make a terrible high pitched alien sound. I loved it. Even though it took about ten minutes to connect, I was so excited to have internet, I didn't care. Now, if it takes a whole 20 seconds to connect to the internet, kids start complaining and tell their parents they need to upgrade their internet.
Get on that, mom and dad.
Cyber Bullying
This one is serious and it makes me sad. Since I didn't have internet until after the age of ten, I didn't have to worry about this as a child. Neither did my parents. But now, parents do have to worry about it. Cyber bullying can happen to any child at any age.
Kids can be cruel.
Parents need to carefully monitor what their children are doing on their internet and should have regular conversations with them about it. Although they don't want their child to be cyber bullied, they don't want their child to be the cyber bully either.
 |
| via Maybe they're just copying Kevin Federline's kids.. That's not a good thing. |
Starbucks
I need to end this off on a lighter note. But, I'm also totally serious. As I was writing this, I saw a kid, who I swear was only ten or eleven, with a cup of Starbucks in her hand. Um, what? First off, I hope there's no caffeine in that. Second off, is that what kids are spending their allowance money on now? I didn't even know about Starbucks until I was in my late teens. I was too busy saving up for that Furby!
Starbucks? I still can't afford that shiz!
ReplyDeleteI wish life was still as simple as it used to be. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha love this post! After teaching a Little Ballerina's class last week (2-3 yr olds), one of the girl's grandma took a picture of her. The first thing out of her mouth? "Let me see it!" I remember when being able to see your photo instantly was considered amazing. :)
ReplyDeletehaha! great list, and it's all pretty darn true!
ReplyDeleteabout a year ago i saw a child wearing this huge coach purse and my jaw just dropped. i guess it could have been a hand-me-down, but still...hand that over, right now!
haha this post makes me laugh! And as a mother of a 2 year old, I can only imagine what kinds of things I will have to worry about when she is a teenager...I'm just hoping we can "shape her values" a bit before then ;)
ReplyDeleteha! 14.4kpbs modem baby! when my friend got the 28.8 one, it was blazing fast LOL
ReplyDeletedude in my time, i grew up with laser discs, betamax, the closest "cell phone"-like toy was Merlin but it wasn't even a toy but it just looked like one, microfiche and manual typewriters, encyclopedias, dot matrix printers, Vic20/commodore 64! omg i'm so old
-kathy
Vodka and Soda
I love the download speed picture. It took me a minute too, but that's hilarious! My cousin who is 7 has AN IPAD!! I don't even have an iPad. He bought it with his birthday money and it makes me SO angry. A) A 7 year old shouldn't be getting that much birthday money. I never did. B) His parents allowed him to buy an iPad with said money. Hell to the no, my mom would've laughed in my face.
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, I kind of did have to deal with cyber bullying. :( I was in junior high, so maybe not a "kid" anymore and it definitely wasn't called cyber bullying. I would block screen names on AIM, but they would just get on different ones and continue talking to me. They came to my school's football games and sat on the bottom row of the stands right in front of where I was cheerleading. It ended up with me having to change my phone number and other stupid things. HATED IT!!
Yes when I click the mancrushmonday hashtag (dont ask lol) i see a bunch of 11 year old little dudes. It really makes me uncomfortable! My mom never had to worry about that with me! Even though now I'm all "selfie...haayyy" I think the cellphone works both ways because now you can check up on everyone whenever. And calling someones house and having their mom answer was so nerve wracking for me!
ReplyDeleteTHIS IS SO TRUE!!!! All of my younger sister's friends have cell phones and they are nicer than mine!!!! Seriously it is crazy and I don't even want to think about what it's going to be like when I have kids and they are growing up.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! I never even had a furby and I always wanted an easy bake oven too. Can you tell I'm a tad bitter about it?
ReplyDeleteChampagne Lifestyle on a Beer Budget
Ha! The first thing I thought about in your first bit about phones was that nobody even HAS house phones anymore!!! Crazy, right?!?
ReplyDeletexox
giedre
I was thinking about cell phones the other day! I got my first cell when I was 15 and not many of my friends had one so I barely used it! It was pay-as-you go and I was responsible for the bills. Kids today have like $100 bills?? why would their parents pay that? When I have a kid they can get a cell when they are 12 (which is pretty much the age id let them be unaccompanied. hahaha), and when they hit 16 they are responsible for their own bills. which means get a damn job, junior!!! Plus the phone will be offlimits after 10pm.
ReplyDeletemwahahahaa I am looking forward to parenting
Also, I also had a furby I never played with
Your first sentence kind of freaked me out. Kids are using Instagram too? I mean that should have been obvious to me, but whoa. And yeah, I couldn't imagine getting, or even asking for, a $500 toy, ever. Holy crap, parenting must suck!
ReplyDeleteHahaha this is a great post. And totally true!!! I didn't get a phone until I was 12, and even then it was very basic and I only used it to make phone calls (which was usually to my parents, haha). I nanny for a 9-year-old girl who has been begging her mom for an iPhone since I started working there. It blows my mind!!
ReplyDeleteMan am I ever glad cyber bullying wasn't something I had to deal with growing up!
ReplyDeleteAlso expensive toys never mattered. I love -playing with cardboard boxes. I was the weirdest child ever.
i dread the thought of being a parent for a lot of these reasons!
ReplyDeleteI got my first cell when I was like 16 and it was "pay as you go" haha!
ReplyDeleteThis is so true! It makes me nervous for when my hubs and start having kids! Eekk!
ReplyDeleteagirlandhersparkles.blogspot.com
No kid should be allowed Starbucks. Seriously. That's crazy. I really wanted and Easy Bake oven and never got one because it was "too expensive" My parents seriously got lucky... x
ReplyDeleteOkay seriously, my grannie's favourite "toy" growing up was a Yellow Balloon. She loved her yellow balloon.. She kept it even after all of the air escaped.. I mean really.. how bad has this world gotten!!?
ReplyDeleteI remember it taking 20 minutes to get the internet up and running and just like you I was sooooo excited to have it. Remember loading a page??? It took so long and the computer sounded like it was going to explode.. Too. Much.... Information... must... make.. lots of noise... and take.... ten ....... min..utes.
How about phones!! We owned a telephone table. That's right, a designated spot for the cord phone, with a place for the phone book and a place to sit. OR- remember VHS tapes when "tracking" would happen, you'd take the tape out and open the side and blow onto it. Ohhh the good ol' days.
Great post idea.
i'm with ya on the kid with the starbucks...it's just crazy, and like you said, hopefully they didn't have something with caffeine! maybe hot chocolate or something?
ReplyDeleteit is scary, what i hear and see sometimes...i could be at target or the mall, and i see these kids walking around with lv and coach purses, dressed with no clothes...eeeks...i'm locking piper up. ;)