Letter: Will we be left with a generation of lost minds?

We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers, this one from Lake resident, Ron Chonner. Ed


Dear Editor

With Christmas close upon us, I write to draw the attention of your readers to the plight of the many children who will not be receiving that longed-for ipad this Noel; will not become the proud possessors of a mobile telephone on which to text their mates.

Children who have never, and will never, experience the joys of indulging themselves and indeed competing against those same young friends in one or more of those nowadays essential Internet games. Will not only not have a TV set of their own to play on, but in extreme cases may even have to share the sole laptop computer in the household. And will not, as a result, feel free to indulge themselves as they should in the mind-expanding delights of Facebook and Twitter.

A blessing in disguise
I know that to many of the older generation reading this, doing without the many electronic items available today will seem unimportant – even a blessing in disguise. But I think we must bear in mind that being deprived of a Playstation now, is the exact equivalent of us, in our youth, going without a football or cricket bat.

Such children will no doubt be visible in the days following their desolate Yuletide, aimlessly kicking a ball about in some local open space, perhaps playing a wistful game of cricket, or simply wandering about in the cold air of winter.

While their more fortunate fellows remain snugly indoors, happily expanding their imaginations as they watch the latest war game unfold in full living colour (Colour far more vivid incidentally, than anything those left abandoned will ever enjoy).

Breeding a generation of lost minds
I confess I do not know what the solution might be. I only know we are breeding a generation of lost minds.

Minds that may never blog, or even e-mail.

Minds that will fall ever further behind in our increasingly digital world.

Image: Visit Greenwich under CC BY 2.0