BetterMost Community Blogs > My "Great White North"

Gotta Have It - a historical perspective

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Sheriff Roland:
When we were kids we played with our siblings and our cousins and neighbourhood friends (though in my case it was mostly the first two, cause there were lots of 'em).

We played make believe, which included cowboys & Indians, a reflection of what we watched (& enjoyed watching) at the movies and on television. Generations preceding ours did not have television but movie houses have been around for more than 100 years and those have reflected American culture and values ...

Somewhere in my lifetime the injustice perpetrated towards Indians was recognised and parents stop letting their kids play with guns (though water pistols continued to be acceptable for quite a long time).

Somewhere in my lifetime people grew up admitting that not all things American were worth importing in their way of life. We did not have to be like them. We started defining ourselves as not-Americans.

Thus we did not continue to be involved in American war ventures post Korea. And the games the new generations played did not involve guns and the belittling of others to make us feel superior lessened.

But the 'new' game of pong lived on right there next to the board games and the card games.

Then other electronic games, 'safe'  space invader type games gradually replaced the even more benign pinball games.

These became more and more elaborate ... and more & more violent. Shoot 'em up was back "In".

Ever try and find a computer game these days that doesn't involve elaborately gun shooting scenarios? Not an easy task.

It really is surprising in this internationalizing social media world that there hasn't been more 'Wakos' or 'Columbines' exported to the rest of the western world.

And do kids still play with other kids? Or are they on their own, without even siblings to play make believe with? Are today's (and tomorrow's kids) really better off than we were?

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