Going outside has been a part of our culture for quite a long time. If you ask an adult about what they did during their childhood they’ll most likely share stories about exploring the woods or racing on bikes. Every generation but ours will have these stories to tell, but why the sudden change? To put it plainly, playing outside is boring.

I’m sure all our parents have fond memories of going outside everyday playing with friends, but times were different back then. What parents don’t realize when they grew up times were quite literally simple compared to our generation.  Inventions like the computer or the smart phone provide a different type of entertainment with a variety of functions that were unavailable to the previous generation. Boredom has been largely alleviated because of this. Nobody wants to play outside and ride their bikes with their friends because some of us pride themselves on claiming to have no friends and would rather watch Netflix alone in their room. Living in Las Vegas is also a disadvantage because we live in a concrete jungle. There are no woods to explore because around the world, wooded areas are being chopped down to make more room for the suburbs. The sense of exploration deeply associated with times of childhood is gone because all that’s left is sidewalks and roads. There are much bigger problems our generation would eventually face like global warming, college affordability, the cost of living, the ever-present threat of global nuclear annihilation and pineapple on pizza but I am confident that going outside isn’t that big of a problem our parents make it out to be.