The Loss of Childhood Creativity

Leighton Curless

iPad kids are the bane of modern existence, for parents and bystanders alike. They affect everyone with their temper tantrums and sheer inability to exist without constant instant gratification. This is a phenomenon that didn’t quite exist when we were kids: we were young enough not to remember a life without technology and yet it wasn’t so ingrained in our culture that we couldn’t step away from it. I believe that Gen Z was graced with the perfect era to grow up in, but that is no reason to gloat. Unfortunately, for all future generations, that won’t be their reality.

I do, however, find that people overly villainize this group of kids. Sure, they can be hard to please and massively greedy, but they didn’t put themselves in that position—it was capitalism and corporate greed that stuck a tablet or phone in the hands of any child who would accept it. I also think that they will grow up to loathe technology and actively work against it, just as Gen Z has. They just don’t have the means to yet. For the time being, I will avenge the iPad kid, with some firsthand knowledge I’ve so graciously been able to experience. 

My first piece of technology was a Kindle Fire tablet, that is if we discount the desktop computer and cable television; the Kindle was mine and mine only. It wasn’t connected to the internet and was merely used to play games; I don’t even think it had a camera. There was a kind of subtle bliss that came with the Kindle, where I was still disconnected but also didn’t feel left out. I had a few more iterations of the tablet before I received the ‘godforsaken’ iPad, which had less parental control and more online access. It also came with iMovie, and my creative life blossomed.

I became an instant filmmaker. My friends and I found so much joy in making movie trailers and silly videos. Eventually, I had my parents set up a YouTube account for me to share my creations with the world. I know that nowadays, it is hard to limit YouTube access and what is safe for children on the platform, but I relished it in my two followers (my parents). I’m also so glad I was able to make this archive of videos, full of childhood wonder, that are still up today. Every now and then I revisit CupcakeFrenzy17 and smile, reminiscing on the kind of secluded glory that children sadly don’t feel today. Whenever I come across a viral clip of a child posting a video, whether it is a fake vlog or a GRWM video, I think back to myself and thank god there were no weirdos and haters in my comment section. Why can’t we just let kids be kids?

This is why I will always defend this new generation. They have been set up for failure, and it is all our doing. I gawk when people say that all childhood creativity has been lost on this new generation because I know they haven’t actually been perceiving kids. Over the summer, I worked at an overnight camp where kids came for at least a week. They slept in cabins with screen doors and played outside, unplugged from the virtual world. This is not a new phenomenon either, because when I was younger, I went to this camp, phoneless and all. You’d be surprised at the number of kids who came to this camp of their own volition, who wanted to escape the pressure and consistency of the internet and constant communication. Just because it may be hard for them to disconnect—one of my campers asked to hold my phone just to “remember what it felt like” on their last night—doesn’t mean they don’t want it. 

I worked with middle schoolers and soon-to-be freshmen in high school, and I could see how they flourished being away from technology. At this point, it is on parents and all adults to bear the burden of what we have done to kids. This is not a problem we can get mad at them for; that would be irresponsible. So next time you think this generation is “so lazy and uncreative,” think first about who and what made them that way. Gen Alpha, you will be okay.

Edited by Gabi Amorim & Elisabeth Kay