Planning, Planning and Planning Some More

What has happened to the spontaneity of childhood?

Something I notice about kids these days and the way they interact is that everything has to be planned. Kids and teens seem to make a lot of firm plans in advance which require their parents and older siblings to drive them to various places. What has happened to the spontaneity of childhood?

I remember as a kid, especially in the warm months, there was no planning. We all just went outside to explore the neighborhood. We would meet up with a friend (who we had to call on the house phone first) or sometimes we would just randomly knock on the person’s door. There was no texting available. Once we had at least one pal in hand we would walk to local parks, schools and pizza shops and see who was around.

Being spontaneous as a kid was fun. You would never know what you would end up doing for the day: playing basketball, riding bikes or maybe even attempting to have a séance or two. As we got a little older (around 12 and 13) we would try to make sure we looked pretty before roaming the neighborhood just in case we ran into our crushes who didn’t even know we existed.

I am not sure why kids these days don’t seem to have as many spontaneous adventures. Maybe it is because more parents are working and kids are in daycare. Maybe it is because people feel the world is less safe now and they don’t want their children roaming around unsupervised. Whatever the reason may be, I wish all these technology loving kids could experience a spontaneous childhood for just one day. I loved my childhood and I would never want to trade it for a childhood filled with planned out activities and video chatting online. 

Old-fashioned tobacco advertisements

Stanford's correlation between smoking ads and behavior.

I’ve been watching a lot of Mad Men, and on the show, one of the ad men’s most persistent tasks has been making cigarette smoking seem innocuous. You know that everyone understood that putting a burning stick into their mouths was probably not great for their health long before the Surgeon General started issuing those nasty warnings on the packages. In fact, one of the most common ads for cigarettes were statements from doctors saying that they also smoked Lucky Strikes or Camels, and they were doing just fine.

Stanford School of Medicine publicized their research on the history of tobacco advertising online. The School has a specific taskforce called the Stanford Research on the Impact of Tobacco Marketing, and included faculty and students from a number of different departments who considered the impact of cigarette marketing on consumers throughout the decades.

The website tracks a number of popular slogans from some popular brands. Many of them make mention that that particular brand of cigarette will not irritate the throat or the lip. For example, Lucky Strike used the slogan "Toasting removes dangerous irritants that cause throat irritation and coughing” to advertise their product. Weirder still is some slogans which advertise cigarettes as cure-alls. A slogan for a Menthol cigarette brand called Spuds states “"Nose or throat congested? Its time to change to Spuds."

The website also includes television and print advertisements that span decades. Stanford divides the print advertising into searchable databases based on the lead personality. Movie and television stars were popular in cigarette advertisements, but so were—unbelievable opera and Broadway singers, who most definitely couldn’t have smoked too frequently. For example, Lucille Ball starred in an ad for Philip Morris with the slogan “Your throat can tell…it’s Philip Morris.” The cigarette company also sponsored her show.

The website also includes a YouTube link to some seriously fascinating commercial and television advertising videos. Again, these are divided by the lead in the commercials, including athletes, doctors and animated characters. It’s not difficult to understand to whom a 1960’s cigarette commercial featuring Fred Flintstone buying Winston cigarettes is geared. Also featured are famous macho Marlboro commercials, which include the Marlboro cowboys, who smoke cigarettes after a hard day’s work.

The website is a reminder that we’re probably still jeopardizing our health in some way because of some snazzy ad campaign. What do you think about tobacco advertising? Do you think that tobacco advertisement guidelines has limited its popularity?

"The Very Special Episode"

The shows explained these topics in ways which kids could understand.

What ever happened to the “very special episodes” of sitcoms? I kind of miss them. Many 80s and 90s family sitcoms had these episodes. These episodes usually taught a lesson to kids and teens. Many network TV shows which were appropriate for parents and kids to watch together would air these types of episodes. Some of these programs included: Blossom, Diff'rent Strokes, Family Matters and Growing Pains.

These “very special episodes” were more serious than usual episodes and touched on the then very taboo topics of rape, drug use, anorexia, underage drinking, racism and more. The shows explained these topics in ways which kids could understand. The hope was to teach kids the right thing to do if they found themselves in bad situations. Many times at the end of the episode, some of the stars would talk out of character using their real names to promote a charity or help line that was related to the topic of the episode. Parents and kids would sit down and talk about the shows together.

Although these episodes now seem cheesy to some, they were very morally beneficial to children and teens of the time. Honestly, I would be uncomfortable letting a child under 13 watch many of the sitcoms on TV today. There are many shows that are funny, buy many of them flat out talk about or make obvious references to sex, drugs and drinking. These shows are awesome for adults, but there are not many shows left that parents and kids can both enjoy.

Parents who want to take the moral high ground must watch all children’s networks on cable with their children. Many of the shows would put an adult to sleep in minutes. It was nice to have TV shows that both parents and children could truly love. I have fond memories of watching these shows with my mom. While some people like to mock “the very special episodes” of years past, to me they will always represent a very special time.

What's Up with Kids' Birthday Parties These Days?

What’s up with kids’ birthday parties these days? Have you noticed the growing number of lavish events? When I was a kid, my mom used to throw me lovely parties at our home. Some were day time parties and everyone would leave happily with a goodie bag. Sometimes me or one of my classmates would have a party at McDonalds and jump in the ball pit; this was considered a super special party at the time. As a tween and teen, I began to have sleepovers which were awesome. I have the greatest memories to this day of staying up all night with my friends and playing silly games.

These days, it seems like a kid’s party has to have chocolate fountains, a pony and belly dancers to be considered cool. We see the super-rich throwing their children all sorts of expensive parties on reality shows, but this craze even extends into middle class America. Many parents are running up credit card debt or using up their savings just so their kids can have a birthday party that keeps up with the Joneses.

When the MTV show My Super Sweet 16 first aired in 2005, it started a trend of teenage girls wanting to have fabulous birthday parties. Since the 16th birthday has always been a special birthday for young women, many parents began to agree to let their daughters run the show when it came to planning the party. But the trend soon exploded out of control as more and more regular, middle class girls all over America started wanting to compete with their friends to see who could have the biggest and most outrageous bash.

Today, the trend of luxury children’s parties has even extended to the little kids’ market. Some children are having birthday parties with giant bouncy castles, three tier cakes, professional performers and catered food. No matter how much or how little money the parents of these children have, giving a child a super expensive party at a young age can spoil the boy or girl. If a kid expects parties like this at age 6, what will he or she want to do for his or her wedding?

So what do you think? Do you think it is a good idea for kids to have lavish parties? Or were things better the way we used to live?

Awesome 80s Toys Remembered

I used to hide from the doll because it reminded me of Chucky from the horror movies.

Kids of the 2000s are used to all of their toys being electronic and ready to connect to the World Wide Web. Us kids of the 80s were happy with simpler items that to this day I consider totally awesome. Let’s take a look back at some of the tubular (yes, I said tubular) 80s toys.

Popples

 Popples were one of my personal favorite 80s toys. Popples were wonderful and cuddly little creatures. To this day, I am not totally sure what Popples were supposed to be. Were they bears? These cute little friends had pom-pom tails. The best part of all is that they had their own pouches so that they could curl into a ball. You could play with the ball and then pop it back into a pet. I had the blue Popple, what about you?

Teddy Ruxpin

Thinking back, Teddy Ruxpin was a little ahead of his time. Teddy Ruxpin was a talking bear. He had a cassette in his back and would read stories to you. I am not sure if Teddy Ruxpin was supposed to encourage youngster to love learning to read or if he was an excuse for parents not to read bed times stories to their kids, but nonetheless he was considered really cool at the time.

The Pogo Ball

The Pogo Ball was an inflated ball with a plastic disc around it. There was no handle or anything. Kids had to balance on it and hop around. It was challenging and fun. Some kids were able to do really cool tricks and spins on it. Personally, all I remember was falling down a lot, but it was good times.

My Buddy

My Buddy was a popular doll for boys. I believe it was intended to show boys how to make friends. Thinking about it as an adult, the motto of My Buddy was “Wherever I go, he goes”, making the doll kind of seem like a stalker. But little boys of the 80s did not consider him a stalker at all; he was a top selling toy. Personally, I was always scared of My Buddy. My brother had one and I used to hide from it because it reminded me of the doll from the doll Chucky from the horror movies.

The Joy of One Hour Photos

Sometimes the best and most memorable photos were the ones that came out wrong.

Today’s children will never understand the joy of one hour photos. I woke up a few days ago and the movie One Hour Photo was on TV. It got me thinking about the excitement I used to get when I was a teenager and my mom gave me money to go get my disposable camera developed at a one hour photo place.

Taking pictures was always a fun activity. Getting the photos developed and seeing what came out was always another adventure. When using a camera with film, as opposed to a digital camera, you never knew what would pop up. Did the pictures come out well? Did you capture something funny in the background of a picture by accident? Each shot was a surprise.

Now obviously, digital cameras do have benefits: you can see the photos instantly, you can share them online and if it is an important event you are photographing you can review the shot immediately and if it didn’t come out well you can take another. When I was a teen, however, none of those things mattered. Sometimes the best and most memorable photos were the ones that came out wrong.

Today, one hour photo seems like a dated practice, but during its peak, it was a really awesome process. Running to the drug store to drop off and pick up my one hour photos was a big part of my childhood. Modern kids only know about digital cameras. They will never know what it is like to have to wait for a picture.

It’s kind of sad that my future child will never know the joy of one hour photos.  I have fond memories of giggling and running up to the photo counter with my best friend hoping and wishing that the pictures we snuck of our crushes came out. I guess one hour photos are a thing of the past, but they will always have a special place in my heart.

Dinosaurs: A Show Ahead of Its Time

The show puts its own satirical spin on some very serious issues.

Do you remember the show Dinosaurs from the 90s?  Many people who did not watch the show assume it is some sort of silly, puppet comedy. A true fan, however, knows that the show is much more and was very advanced for its time.

While the show does have many funny moments, the show also puts its own satirical spin on some very serious issues. The show did episodes that addressed homosexuality, euthanasia, racism, religion, prejudice, drug use and more. Some other shows of the early 90s were afraid to push the envelope with some of these topics. Since the show’s characters were dinosaurs as opposed to people, it made it easier to tap into some of these subjects.

 The show did a great job of being appropriate to both parents and children. The writers used really crafty and clever wording so that adults could enjoy the more serious parts of the show and the more mature humor. Kids could still watch the show because the series used no bad language and some of the more serious topics would simply go over a kid’s head. Many children enjoyed watching the show due to the banter that went on between Earl, the father dinosaur and the baby dinosaur. The baby dinosaur is best known for hitting Earl in the head with a pan and screaming “not the momma”.

The show only lasted for four seasons over a span of three years which I always thought was a sin. I think the show had a lot more to offer. I think some people did not give the show a chance and made a lot of incorrect assumptions about it.

I watched the show as a young person during its original airing and enjoyed it then. I now own all of the seasons on DVD and have enjoyed it again as an adult in a whole new way. Robbie, the teenage son, is a very wise and interesting character which can make you think a lot about life. If you have never seen the show or didn’t give it a fair chance the first time around, I really recommend watching it on DVD. The show offers a lot of value during any time period no matter if it be prehistoric or 2011.

Goodbye Human Voices, Hello Technology

Phone calls were not long ago considered a modern luxury, but they are quickly becoming a dinosaur like form of communication.

The days of knocking on someone’s door when you need to tell them something has been gone for some time.  But what about the phone call? How often do you really use your phone anymore? Phone calls were not long ago considered a modern luxury, but they are quickly becoming a dinosaur like form of communication.

Some people are too lazy to pick up the phone (cellular or a landline) to tell someone something, especially short things such as asking a loved one to pick up a carton of milk or finding out from a friend what time dinner is on Friday night. A lot of people are addicted to text messages when it comes to communicating with the regular people in their lives. Those who spend a lot of time on the computer may bypass a phone completely and write these kinds of things on a friend’s Facebook wall.

Sites such as Facebook are also making it easier for people to plan things. In the past, if you were having a small get together which did not require formal invitations, you would have to call all of your friends and family one at a time. Now sites like Facebook make it easy to send a mass invite to your Saturday night bash with just the push of a few buttons.

Technology of this sort is a blessing in some ways. It allows people to get things done quicker. Since the world has become fast-paced, many individuals may enjoy these quick solutions.

When you think about it from another perspective however technology such as texting and Facebook takes the humanity and emotion out of a lot of things. If you need to cancel on a friend at the last minute, you used to have to the courage to pick up the phone and be honest with your friend about your situation. Now you can just hit “not attending” on Facebook, allowing the system to decline for you. When you push decline, you have no idea if your friend is hurt, disappointed or concerned about your last minute change. Also, think about when you have something really good or really bad happening in your life. If a friend texts you about it, sure it is nice that they are thinking of you, but sometimes it feels better to hear the enthusiasm or compassion of another human voice.

So next time you need to tell a friend something quick, make a change of plans or are just checking in on someone back away from the computer, stop tapping your touchscreen and pick up the phone for a change.

Prescription Drugs to Eliminate Human Frailties

"People need to take a step back and examine what’s going on."

We have come a long way as a species in developing ways to combat the many dangerous and invisible menaces that plague (literally) our bodies.  Antibiotics and other such wonders have saved countless lives in the relatively brief span of history that they have been around.  Now, however, we seem to think we can do the same thing with every mental affliction that a human could suffer.  This is leading to a society that is steadily becoming more and more self-medicated and less human.

Many people benefit from the use of drugs which affect their brain’s chemistry.  There are some serious problems that prevent people from functioning in a normal (and sometimes safe) manner and thus they need something to help them along.  But some people look to these mood-altering drugs as the answer to any little problem.

Human emotions are varied and turbulent sometimes, but they are a part of what makes us human.  Before the pharmaceutical companies became deities in their own right, people dealt with their mood swings and unpleasant feelings as they came, accepting them as an integral part of existence.  You got tough and dealt with whatever it was in life that was hard and you came out stronger because of it.

Nowadays, it is easy to just turn the part of the brain off that deals with whatever emotion you’re experiencing.  If bad feelings don’t seem to suit you at a particular point in your life, you can drug-up and push them out of the way.  It’s very easy to get back to “business as usual” by medicating one’s self into mediocrity.

What makes the phenomenon worse is that parents load their children up with these drugs as well.  Any little problem that even remotely resembles ADD can fill a prescription.  These poor kids never end up learning how to deal with their emotions because they barely have an idea of what the emotions actually are.

People need to take a step back and examine what’s going on.  There is no reason to think of a negative emotion as something to be cured or suppressed – they are a part of being human and to avoid them is to suppress what it means to be alive.

Some things never change

Technology has affected most aspects of life, but not all.

It seems like the world is changing so quickly. A few years ago, we didn’t have iPads or iPhones, Facebook statuses or Tweets, constant connectivity and speed-of-light news. We are rushing and rushing to get life moving faster and faster, but really where is that getting us?

Some technological advances happen so quickly that if you forget to update for a few years, your old cell phone or computer looks like some kind of relic. Big celebrities change so quickly, it’s impossible to know which food stuff-named rapper the kids are listening to these days. But some things never change. Here are some great things that will be cool no matter what technology and the information superhighway bring our way:

Converse tennis shoes. I see young people, elderly hippies, babies and teenagers wearing various colors of this ubiquitous shoe. Starting off as a basketball shoe, it now has legions of fans, and seems to be nowhere near old-fashioned. This shoe stands for the shoe of the counterculturalists, those interested in comfort, teenaged hipsters, artists—you name it, and this shoe is representative of everyone.

Good books. We might read them on paper or online or on Kindles or projected onto our eyelids, but the medium isn’t going to ruin an art that’s been around since the beginning of time. As long as new books are still being published and people are still reading in one form or another, the medium is kind of irrelevant (although paper books certainly feel the best to me). Innovations like the television set were supposed to kill books, too, but looks like they’re still kickin’.

Monopoly. I don’t care how many computer games or Wii consuls a family has because Monopoly is still better. Invented in 1904, the game helps you think about strategy and business, plus it keeps families around the dinner table much longer than a single, delivered pizza. Best of all, your kids will have to talk to you, at least to negotiate a sale of Park Place.  

The Great Outdoors. The Great Outdoors may be shrinking because of our reliance on Wal-Marts, but she isn’t going anywhere yet. There’s no replica in a synthetic world of mountain, trees and oceans, and I bet that there never will be (although I’m sure plenty will try).  

Restaurants. Most restaurants rely on nostalgia to hock whatever food they are cooking, so even the most modern and revolutionary joints need to look to the past to sell their present.

What else do you think is still old-school cool in the modern world?

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