The
five social media apps on my iPhone are stored together in an app folder
labeled “DEATH."
I
was born in the year 1992 – a millennial – immersed in the growing technology
that has now taken over a good portion of our daily lives. CNN reported in 2016
that “Americans devote more than 10 hours a day to screen time” and that number
will continue to grow.
Where
there were once kids running down the sidewalks, biking down the alley behind
our neighborhood houses, and little bare feet slapping the pavement as they ran
to catch lightning bugs, the subdivision has gone silent. It’s a ghost town.
When
I was a kid, I hated wearing shoes. I’d run out the door barefoot and take off
down the street on my bike. My parents wouldn’t see me until sunset and the
neighbors would wave hello as I blew past their houses. My two younger sisters
meandered next door to play with their friends in the mud and worms, collecting
bugs in jars and such. If we wanted to play with something interactive it was
outside on our bikes, the swings at the park or laying in the grass with a
library book.
Today,
kids are biking with phones in their hands, mothers are handing their screaming
children tablets to quiet them down while they shop at Target, and junior high
students are Snapchatting their favorite Starbucks’ drink to their friends. I
wasn’t even allowed to have a phone until I turned 16 – that was in 2008.
Technology has taken over, especially in the world of social media. While I am
all for progress, I do think we need get younger generations back outside and
away from the devices for a few extra hours each day.
I
know firsthand how consuming social media can be, because I work with it 40
hours a week as a full-time job for a strategic communications firm. My eyes
burn and my brain melts from my ears by the end of the day. Don’t get me wrong,
I love what I do. I think social media teaches us new ways of communication,
design techniques, and creative writing. While it has its negatives, the positives
are equal if not greater. But what we should promote to younger generations as
they come up the ranks is getting back outdoors.
Getting
them outdoors will remind them what it is to breathe fresh air, look at the
rain falling from the clouds, climb the hill at the park. It brings them back
to reality to focus on the now. There’s a saying that REI, an American retail
and outdoor recreation service corporation, uses across their social media and
website: “Opt Outside.” They believe “time outside makes you healthier and
happier.”
From
my own personal experience, I think REI makes a valid point. A few weeks ago,
after nonstop work for six months, I finally took a vacation. The first thing I
did was hop off a plane and go climb the mountains at Red Rock Canyon National
Conservation Area in Nevada. I finally felt the warmth of the sun, wind grazing
my face and that sweet inviting smell of trees, grass and rubble. I left with
dirt in my hair, scrapes down my legs and the feeling of true success after
conquering a gruesome mountain side. I felt alive.
When
you stare at a screen perusing your social media accounts for 10+ hours a day,
you feel drained. It sucks the life out of you. We should be encouraging kids
to take advantage of the technology available to them, but even more, we should
be encouraging them to #OPTOUTSIDE.