Thursday, June 19, 2008

The red badge of activity

People are constantly pointing to different happenings, crying out they are signs of the end of the world. The rise in the psychopharmaceuticalization of the general public could be one sign. Spell check just created the longest red line I have ever seen, but I copied the word directly from Amazon.com so I think it is a correct. For those of you who share the opinion of spell check that this is an unfamiliar word it refers to prescriptions which are given to people with psychological issues like depression and anxiety. I don’t think the huge proliferation of these drugs shows the world is going to pot. It just means the world will continue marching towards the precipice in a much calmer manner.
A different, and much less discussed, sign of the changing world was pointed out to me by my wife. This sign is not a marker of anything as apocalyptic as the fall of civilization and the rise of anarchy. It does, however, point out that things really aren’t as they used to be and maybe not even as they ought to be. The most insidious thing about this sign is it effects the most susceptible of the population, our children. “What is this sign?” you ask. Well, I’ll tell you. It is the lack of skinned knees.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not wishing pain and bloodshed on the youth of America. It just seems to me that skinned knees can easily be pointed to as indicators of good things. Kids with skinned knees are active children, children who spend time outdoors, children unafraid of rough and tumble behaviors. Kids with skinned knees are living their own lives.
Think about it. It is very difficult to get a skinned knee while shooting dozens of virtual-guns at hundreds of virtual-people, and ripping virtual-spleens from virtual-enemies in virtual-worlds of virtual-conflict. Oh, sure, there is virtual-blood galore for little Malcolm as he sits on his genuine-sofa, manipulating his genuine-controller, as he eats genuine-junk food, creating a genuine-backside large enough to blot out the genuine-sun because he hasn’t worked any genuine-muscles beyond his genuine-thumbs for a genuine-damn-long-time.
In addition kids do not get skinned knees as they sit at the computer surfing the internet, downloading video, illegally sharing music, e-mailing friends, instant messaging predators and generally watching their lives flicker by at 128 kilobits a second.
Another thing to ponder is, when was the last time you saw an ad for Bactine? Remember that spray bottle which was kept handy for those little scrapes and scratches you would get as you went about your daily life. A life which included running, riding your bike (sometimes using a discarded plank and a big rock to construct a ramp with the stability of the Zimbabwean economy), playing football in a vacant lot with stickers and big brothers who thought they were Dick Butkus, and occasionally chasing a friend with the intensity of a lioness looking for dinner for no other reason than you are “it”. The sedentary lifestyle of today’s youth doesn’t require a mixture of Benzalkonium chloride (antiseptic) and lidocaine (anesthetic) for the times when you have all the sata menu items in your bios enabled yet you still cannot get your drive recognized. (I understood none of that. I lifted it from a computer troubleshooting website.)
The dearth of skinned knees is also a sign fewer children are willing to take even minimal risks. I am willing to bet this trend can be attributed to something which started out as reasonable and then just got out of hand. The “world” started pushing safety. I agree we should look out for our children. I make my kids wear a helmet when they ride their bikes. I purchased the knee, elbow, wrist, and self-esteem pads when I got my kids roller blades. I believe in safety.
I fear we had to spin such horrible stories to convince our kids to wear all the protective gear (because it is true you cannot help but look like a Class A Geek wearing it) we created an aversion to taking risks. My wife is excellent at pulling out a “I knew a kid who got all his toes cut off while riding a bike barefoot” story whenever needed.
The concern is the American public may have done too good a job cautioning all of American kiddom about the bad things which can happen if they are not careful. This doesn’t just make them wear proper gear when they ride their bikes. It causes them to look at their bicycle as an imminent danger to be avoided like anthrax powder or Barry Manilow CDs.

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