I was born in 2003 and grew up watching movies like “Toy Story” and “Cars,” which turned out to be some of my all-time favorites. Being a product of this generation has positively affected who I am today.
In terms of entertainment, kids born in the early 2000s had it best. I grew up on today’s nostalgic movies and TV shows. I would watch “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for hours, and it was great.
Even video games were the best.
Not many games today can beat classics like “Wii Sports” or “Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.” I beat the Lego Star Wars campaign at least a dozen times, and I still go back to it occasionally. I have such great memories of Lego Star Wars that my most anticipated release of 2020 is “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.”
Today’s 12-year-olds, however, are all about Fortnite, which doesn’t compare. What is great about the “classics” is that they’re fun whenever you play them, but Fortnite isn’t always enjoyable because I’m always put into games with players who are way better, and I just can’t keep up.
Back to the point. I was born at the perfect time. I grew up during the rise of technology, and I’m very glad about it. Things like Netflix and Amazon make life so much easier and more enjoyable. I talk to my mom about her childhood a lot, and it seems really boring without the things we have today.
She’ll sometimes tell me, “You’re on your phone too much.” But I know that if my mom had had an iPhone when she was my age, she would have been much worse than I am.
But there should be limits. Another difference between being born in the early 2000s and now is parenting. I’m not trying to criticize anyone, but most of the time when I go to a restaurant (or when I used to), parents keep their kids occupied by giving them a phone or some kind of screen to distract them. When I was young and went to a restaurant, I’d get a pack of crayons and navigate through mazes on my menu. I don’t know if I just haven’t been observant, but I haven’t seen one of those in years. This is how I would stay quiet during dinner, but today, kids don’t do that.
Living in such a technologically advanced era has helped people navigate this pandemic. If it had occurred when our parents were children, imagine how boring it would have been. Not only has it made life less boring, it helps me keep in touch with my friends through video games.
Now we take technology for granted. If people suddenly lost all technology, the pandemic wouldn’t be the only problem. People would probably be going insane, more so than they already are. I would be so bored if I didn’t have YouTube, Netflix and Disney+.
Not only has technology improved entertainment, it has enhanced learning, especially now.
A lot of schools are completely shut down because not all students have laptops. Thankfully, we do and will be able to finish the school year.
A lot of today’s advancements aren’t even related to me, but it’s awesome knowing that we’re living while space travel is becoming commercialized.
It’s interesting to think that one day someone is going to take a history test about what we all lived through, and it will probably be a pretty big test.
I don’t consider this the best time just because of the technology and the cool stuff that has been invented, but because of how great it has been living through it.
— By Miles Morrow
Originally published in the May 26 edition of the Octagon.
