‘I am bored to death’ says a little 10 year old friend as she passes by. I was quite surprised to hear her express this sentiment. It almost felt as if she grew up all too soon. I’ve seen her grow up for the past year and a half. When I first met her she was still a child, free of any fear or judgement. She would prance around without any inhibition whatsoever. Over the course of time two things happened in tandem. She started using a smartphone more and more. She also hit puberty and is becoming a woman with each passing day. As her online activity skyrocketed, her prancing around got rarer. She also developed complexes about herself. She isn’t the carefree little girl anymore. I notice a glimmer of fear of judgement in her eyes.
While she has constant stimulation from online resources, at the end of the day she finds herself bored.

Kids need a medium to experience, assimilate and create. While internet provides with resources for learning, in the hands of kids who don’t have as much self control, they would soon gravitate to be passive consumers of content.
One wonders about the whole world being contained in the 6 inches of a smartphone while he loses touch of his immediate surroundings. After all, it is best to learn physics while rolling a tire downhill and uphill than watch a video about it.

It is late at night and I have a 5 year old with me asking if I have a phone. I will try to take him to the open ground and introduce him to the sky. In the interest of a cultivating wonder.
In a humble attempt to delay the onset of boredom.