Kids aren't lazy. I'm sick of that excuse. They've been put into a place where there is nothing else to do- I know, I'm young. It's only gotten worse. We've torn down the rope swings, fenced off the frog creeks, and told children that it's too dangerous. We have been so concerned with "safety" that the traditional adventures no longer exist. Your childhood, along with most of those of older people here, is gone, replaced with a constantly fearful group of parents - when you went out for a day as a kid, was your mom constantly worried about a boogeymanchildmolester coming and getting you? No. People weren't whipped into fear then. They were free from that. Kids today live in a world of boogeymen and slow bicycles, and parks, no creek or tunnels or rivers or fields, just public parks and movie theaters.
I love adventure, and spend my time hiking and usually hopping some fences. Climbing some trees. Exploring old tunnels and bridges and buildings. And I love the old things. I let people try it with me, people my age that sit and play video games- guess what? They fall in love with it, once they swallow their fear and tell their parents they won't get *****. And life is good.
So let's not blame it on lazy young people. I'm tired of that.
Let's look for alternatives, such as young people being forced into boredom for their own good.
+1. It's not the kids' fault; it's their parents. For a look at what some people used to consider a fun childhood (around the time the bike was invented), I highly recommend Dan Beard's
The American Boy's Handy Book. (There's an
American Girl's Handy Book, too, but it's not so big on adventure. Funny, that.) Fire, knives, unsupervised camping...all the good stuff. I teach college freshmen, and I can say that while most of them are really nice, they've largely been prevented from thinking or acting for themselves. Still, I see a few kids biking around my neighborhood on their own (with helmets, but still) pretty regularly. I hope to see some more.