One of the happiest times in all our lives is during childhood. We’re allowed to be carefree, homework is our biggest chore, and we roam the parks and streets in search of some game to play. I’ve recently taken a closer look at the generation under my own, however, and I’ve noticed some disheartening changes. In fact, I look at most of my generation and realize that the same unfortunate characteristics lie true. Our youth is becoming more and more lazy as the years go by.

When I was a punk kid growing up, I craved going outside to the local park to find a game of soccer, football, or whatever else was available. I can remember coming home from school, getting off the bus, and running home just to drop off my bag and then sprinting behind the one barn a street away to play a big game of football with all my friends. It was an everyday task that took precedence over homework and dinner, much to the dismay of my parents (especially when I was bringing home low B’s and C’s because I had no interest or care for school; just games). Saturday mornings, when we didn’t have league games for baseball or soccer, we’d meet at the end of the street and play some hockey, or if it was summer time we’d get a big game of stickball going in the Karabinchak’s backyard; they were joyous times to say the least. I now realize that my neighborhood was one of the few that acted in this manner, and it’s pretty sad.

The kids that live in my area now choose videogames over outdoor activities, and from what I’ve gathered, this was quite prevalent with friends of mine who share the same age as me. While my generation did tend to play games outside, they did turn more towards videogames than previous generations. The current crop of kids coming up are indoor activity whores, kicking outdoor activities to the curb, only turning to them in times of desperation. Smalls and Pignose, two kids on my street (who I consider friends) are perfect examples of this unheralded fear of fresh air. Smalls, until this past summer when I trained him and got him into shape for the track season, was the laziest kid I knew (well, minus Steve). He would only come out if we got a game of stickball going, but even then he’d look for excuses to run back indoors and watch TV or play his game system. Luckily he has improved greatly over the past year, but still, it’s only because my friends and I intervened and taught him how childhood should be spent on grass and not a couch. Pignose was actually a pretty outdoors type of lad, always joining in our games of soccer and hockey; now, unfortunately, he sits on his couch and plays videogames or watches TV and lies about working out (he’s way out of shape now). When he hung around my friends and I he was a huge fan of tumbling through the mud while chasing down a tennis ball, but once we stopped hanging out around him, he became like the rest of his generation and got addicted to indoor operations.

Considering all things, it’s pretty alarming how these kids are regressing into cellar dwellers, avoiding any contact with the beautiful sunlight that we’re fortunate enough to be blessed with. My parents had to drag me inside each night because I couldn’t get enough of the outdoors, but now parents have to drag their children outdoors since they can’t get enough of their indoor lives. I try to preach to the youth about how amazing it is outside, about how you’ll get a million more stories doing random stuff at the park or in the woods than you will in your living room or bedroom. Look, I’ve played my fair share of videogames growing up, I still do so to this day, but whenever I get the chance to go outside I eat it up. When people sit and listen to my stories, they’re amazed at how such an unimportant person as myself could live through so many memorable events. I owe all of this to running around the fields and doing random activities; when we didn’t feel like playing a sport, we made up some game or built a fort in the woods. It was these simple things that helped build originality and creativeness inside of me, and I feel that it would be beneficial for these upcoming generations to do the same. I say enjoy videogames from time to time, but when you get the opportunity to go outside, take it; you’ll be better off in the grand scheme of things.

If you have any questions or comments for G.K., email him at GK@LostYouthNation.com, and be sure to check back here next Friday for another random article from his unpredictable mind.