Kicking it old school

“I remember when my team was losing in capture the flag,” Dylan Thomsen, 10, said. “But I came through. I sprinted to the end of the field and captured the flag to secure a victory for my team,” she said, grinning.

Similarly to Dylan, many of us teens may have grown up playing games like cops and robbers, ghost in the graveyard, wiffle ball, or making up our own games on the fly. We can all look back at our childhood with fond memories from these backyard games. But as we’ve gotten older, sessions of truth or dare and impromptu trampoline bounce competitions have come to a slow. Where has the amusement of real-life games gone?

As middle school came and went, plenty of us have traded the fun games of our pasts for movies, cell phones, or video games. And while there’s nothing wrong with these things every now and then, screen time can have lasting damages on our relationships.

photo by min an from pexels.com

When we spend time with our friends but on our phones, we create a sense of disconnect. Relationships—platonic and romantic alike—are built on closeness, shared interactions, and an ability to relate/communicate. So when a friend is telling a story and we stop listening because we get a Snapchat notification, it strains the shared connection that was felt before.

A survey from the American Psychological Association found that 86% of people admit to constantly checking their texts, emails, and social media. Yet the majority of them also report feeling upset when they’re snubbed for a cell phone.

So how about we all try and go back to the ways of the good ole days? The next time we’re with friends, we must remember to put down our phones, and pick up a volleyball, or grab some scooters and go see what the world has to offer.