Where kids and families yearn for reality, not technology
The following first appeared on Sharyl ATTKISSON‘s free Substack
Imagine a world, not so far from our own, where children grow up forcibly tethered to screens.
In this alternate universe, the default is digital. Kids are told from birth that the world outside is “unsafe”—a vague, theoretical danger lurking in the air, in touch, in presence.
Their friends exist as pixelated faces on phones and laptops. Sports? Only through the twitch of a controller, skiing down virtual slopes or tackling opponents in a digital football arena. Dating? A swipe on a screen, a heart emoji, a carefully curated avatar. Schools are sterile Zoom grids, and “outside” is a forbidden word, replaced by the hum of devices and the glow of LED screens. Fresh air? That’s what air purifiers are for. Touch? Too risky. Life is lived through a keyboard, a headset, a virtual reality rig.
In this world, kids dream not of new apps or faster Wi-Fi, but of something radical. Something whispered about in hushed tones: reality. They yearn to feel the crunch of snow under their boots, to high-five a friend without a lag, to smell the piney breeze on a forest trail. But it’s forbidden, locked away by the rules of a society that prizes “safety” above all else.
Then, one day, a maverick inventor unveils a miracle: a way to make the world safe. A breakthrough—let’s call it the “Freedom Protocol”—neutralizes the mysterious threat.
Suddenly, kids can step outside, touch the world, live in it. The news spreads like wildfire across their digital feeds. They gather in virtual chatrooms, wide-eyed, typing furiously: “Wait, you mean I can actually ski down a mountain? With my own legs?” “I can hug my best friend? Like, feel the actual warmth of the sun?” “I can ride a roller coaster, feel the wind whip my hair, scream with my own voice?” “I can kick a real soccer ball, not just mash buttons?”
The world erupts in wonder!
Kids ditch their smartphones, their VR headsets, their laptops—relics of a suffocating past. They flood the streets, laughing, running, tumbling into grass that’s softer than any pixel could render. They join pickup basketball games, skin scraping real pavement. They climb trees, scrape knees, and discover the electric thrill of a first handshake, a first dance, a first splash in a real lake.
Schools open as bustling hubs of chaos and chatter, not silent grids of faces on screens. The air smells alive—earthy, crisp, unfiltered. Technology, once their only window to the world, gathers dust in forgotten corners.
In this universe, kids and their parents don’t see screens as progress. They see them as prison bars. The allure of “connection” through devices pales against the raw, messy joy of a real-world tackle, a shared laugh, a sunset you don’t need a filter to love. They ask their parents, incredulous, “Why did you think screens were better? Why was this—living, touching, breathing—considered dangerous?” The adults shrug, mumbling about safety protocols and old fears, but the kids just run faster, climb higher, live louder.
Thought of the Day: If screens were the default, the original cage, kids wouldn’t worship them as progress—they’d beg to break free. In our world, we call virtual connection a “technological advance,” but maybe it’s backwards. Maybe the real marvel is the crunch of leaves underfoot, the warmth of a friend’s hand, the ache of muscles after a real game. What if we’re the ones in the alternate universe, seduced by screens, forgetting that the truest connection is the one we can touch? Let’s step outside and remember.
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I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I love tech, science, and innovation, but I wonder – at the risk of being a Luddite – if we should consider how much we’re losing to the swift rise of tech/AI. I remember growing up where my entertainment was wandering through the woods or playing outdoors with friends. We watched minimal TV. That almost seems paradisical compared to today. But maybe it’s just me getting old?
That would answer the “grandparent paradox” to be fulfilled. It is said if you could go back in time and kill your grandparents you wouldn’t be born. Some physicist’s aver that we live in a muti-verse and if you go back in time you would be in another parallel universe with a different outcome. Maybe we are already living in that now.
Indeed. Parked in a chair outside my home. Awaiting the arrival the first monsoon storm of the season here in Mesa, AZ.