Childhood experiences have been changing over the years and those changes usually end with me being confused by this new generation or upset with society. Videos on social media show memories from childhood during the 2000’s: pictures of chalk on sidewalks, Rainbow Looms and children playing under the rainbow parachute. These small activities were such a huge part of what I did when growing up. Now, I look at children walking around with Stanley cups, iPhones and Apple Airpod Maxs. These shifts in age groups getting access to technology make me think about the shifts in values between generations. 

   I started thinking about this when Sephora products began trending among nine-year-olds. How these young kids are engaging in products that were made for older people made me realize how young people have access to whatever they want. Having access to all these products is a representation of kids maturing at a much younger age. If we keep moving on this trajectory, everything in our society will be targeted to children. For example, I started wearing makeup and going out much earlier than my parents did. However, my experience was nothing compared to my friends, as they had matured earlier and were given access to iPhones and Musical.ly. 

   I wasn’t allowed to have a lot of things my friends had and that might be because my parents are immigrants from the Middle East. They raised me in a more conservative way, similar to how they were raised. I did not get a phone until I was 12, which might seem young, but I was one of the last in my grade. I did not get social media until I was going into high school, while in middle school many of my friends kept asking when I was going to have Snapchat and Instagram. For a while I was embarrassed, however, now I am grateful for how my parents limited my access to social media. I am glad they waited because now I feel I am not as addicted to my phone and I don’t need screen time to keep myself entertained. I can go without my phone for long periods of time, which I realize is more difficult for younger children. Having the experience of not relying on social media shaped me more into my authentic self.

  I wish kids these days could experience my childhood. Most of the time I wish I could experience the childhood my parents had. I would love to have grown up without electronics and the internet, because I love human interaction way more than online communication. I often think about how my life would be impacted if I had the childhood my parents had. It would probably be easier to make friends, and everyone would have been raised in a similar way.  I enjoy taking time away from the online aspect of life. It is difficult now because we are all connected through social media and that is how we meet a lot of friends, but somehow our parents made so many friends by connecting without phones and Instagram. If we didn’t have technology our lives would look a lot different, we would have higher attention spans, more productivity and in general it allows us to be more present. 

   While I do say I love taking time away from screens, another factor that makes it more difficult is school. Our society is so advanced in technology that back in the day I would not be typing out my opinion; I would probably be writing this by hand. In some ways having technology makes a lot of things easier, it is more efficient and can improve productivity. In other aspects handwriting does strengthen our memory. There will always be pros and cons to both time periods, however, childhood should start without the influence of social media.