“Dude, why are you sneakin’ up on me like that? I’m on a hot mic, dangit,” says the random teen-age boy deeply dialed into his NBA 2K25 video game, his back turned toward the parent who literally brought his chicken parm sandwich to the bedroom he’s been cornholed in since his eyes opened shortly before noon.
“Bro, I’m bringing you your dinner, so shut your hot mic off before I…,” (well, you likely know the rest), says the random parent.
Yeah, soft parenting is part of the problem; to that we must ALL confess. Nowadays, we treat our babies like they’re still babies, even though they drive to school now and mooch our credit cards dry. There’s not a boomer/millenial on earth who ever had their parents plate a two-course meal, bring it upstairs and say “mangia, buddy boy,” unless they had parents well ahead of the Charmin-soft curve.
Between the addiction to video games and the unavoidable year-long-or-more COVID layoffs, good portions of the youth of America are years behind in terms of social skills and athletic progression. I don’t need the ‘experts’ to confirm it. I've run youth basketball leagues in Putnam County for kids between fifth and ninth grade. We’re almost 10 weeks into our season now and kids still don’t know where and when to line up for foul shots, but I’ll throw some expert information at y’all just the same.
They say: Excessive use of video games can lead to a deterioration of social skills, resulting in a worse quality of life. When individuals spend the majority of their time in front of screens playing games, they have fewer opportunities to hone their social and physical skills and may eventually struggle to keep up with those less inclined to waste hours on end with a joystick in their hands instead of an actual basketball.
I see it every week. Kids palming basketballs like they see in video games, thinking they get the extra step and then turning sass on the refs when they get called for it. Kids that should know better, not knowing what 1-and-1 means at the foul line. Kids, not all of them, getting tossed a ball and not knowing what to do next. I’ve been working with young athletes in these rec league settings for more than 30 years now, and it’s the first time we cannot implement anything more than halfcourt pressure (grades 5/6) to avoid what would be utter chaos if we did.
This spring and summer, I urge folks to force lil' Johnny/Jenny to get away from the screen, to put the joystick down and call on friends to challenge one another like we did back in the day… to meet at Sycamore Park and hang there for hours on end, hooping, fishing, etc.
Heck, when ‘Gen X’ (1965-80) and ‘Millennials’ (1981-1996, roughly) were raised back in the day, they left the house on summer mornings by 10 a.m., actually called for friends, played a variety of sports/activities (including fishing), drank water from the hose #ImagineThat, dipped into the nearest pool, then went back to playing sports/activities and didn’t think about stopping until you heard your dad’s first whistle; at which point you delayed hearing it and kept playing until the second whistle, which was more of a distress signal.
We rushed home, slurped a quick meal (something like a medley of 80% ground chop meat, a jar of Ragu sauce and a can of mixed carrots and peas #Gross), and then begged to go back outside to play ringolevio in the hopes it led to truth or dare and a chance to smooch young Julie.
None of that would be possible with a dreaded joystick in our hands, and none of us would trade those days in for anything. Correct me if I’m wrong.
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