Do you remember the time when notebooks and pencils used to be the essential tools for students? When, after school, they would go out to play with their neighbours? They dreamed of becoming teachers, firefighters, doctors, engineers, or anything that didn’t involve collecting followers.

People took photos using cameras and not phones. There were no such things as likes, tags, or mentions. And constant notifications weren’t a thing because no one carried “smart” devices.

People had to look for news outlets to be informed. And although there’s always been serious problems happening around the world, I bet it was not that common to read terrifying headings such as “Another high-temperature record was broken!” or “Country A is b*mbing Country B” and a bit later “Country C is attacking Country D”.

“We need to pay attention to the world we’re leaving to our kids”

A beautiful but vague speech. Given the outcome, it’s clear that no generation has known how to truly benefit, or at least not complicate things for the next one. It’s true, they all have faced huge challenges and improved some conditions but others… you can tell.

For instance, most of us love living in an era with new technology and products available every day. However, life is getting more and more expensive not only in terms of affordability; our health, mental health, the environment and natural resources, are paying huge bills too.

There you have wars too. Millions are either dying or being traumatized for life; and we don’t need to be physically where the b*mbs are thrown because social media does a great job spreading horrible images 24×7.

The upside: we are more aware of those tragedies.
The downside: tragedies are being normalized. You’re just as likely to come across a photo of your friend on Instagram as you are to see another one of a death kid.

Is that leading us to be less sensitive? Not to mention that depending on the sources appearing on our feed we are pushed to pick a side, any side but the peace side!

Finding a way to stay grounded while chaos is all around

Let’s face it, it’s almost impossible to stay on the sidelines; however, I know people who have made a huge effort to avoid being hypnotized by any posture. They stick to their basics! (to their core values and interests).

I’ve come to the conclusion that this might be a useful step toward improving the environment for future generations. Providing them with cutting-edge technology could be useful in certain ways, but it will be harmful if we don’t nurture those basics. We are investing too much energy improving THINGS and too little in fostering healthy RELATIONSHIPS.

I refuse to live in a world with more “intelligent” gadgets but with communities arguing harder, being more selfish, and with robots in charge of decision making. That would be the perfect scenario for feeling more lonely and sparking more wars.

Sometimes, I picture humanity as a toddler, astonished for all the toys within their reach, but suffering the terrible side effects of underestimating some simple but crucial activities like writing on a notebook using a pencil, or going out to play with the neighbours.

However, I want to believe that it’s never too late to ask ourselves what kind of education and values we want to instill in shaping the behavior of this child and act accordingly.

Thank you for reading 🙂