Originally posted in June 2024.

Today’s youngsters have lives filled with technology.  What started with simple things like Atari games has grown into cell phones, iPads and iPods, and all sorts of new and more complicated technology. Don’t think of me as anti-technology.  I have worked in the field for over thirty years, more if you count the “data processing” years in the military.  At the same time, I wonder if all of these new “toys” have caused today’s youth to miss out on things that are important – things like sand boxes.

While this may not be true in large urban areas, in rural America almost every family had a sand box if they had young children.  The sand box could be as simple as four boards nailed together into a square or rectangle or as complex as a metal square with seats on the sides, an umbrella over the top, and a way to drain any water from the bottom.  The only common feature was they were all filled with sand.

Sand boxes were places where one could play alone or one could play with family, friends, or neighbors.  They were places where the only limit to play was imagination.  Children could have toys like trucks, tractors, dolls, or almost anything in their sand boxes.  Sand boxes were places where we learned sharing, cooperation, and how to deal with others.  Perhaps most importantly, they were places where we learned that disagreements were not the end of the world.

Sure, there were arguments.  We got mad at those who didn’t say or do what we wanted. We yelled at each other. We occasionally had fights. Sometimes we were so mad that we took our toys and went home.  Even so, after we calmed down, we usually ended back in the sand box playing with the same friends again. No one needed to go home and get a gun to shoot someone. No one needed to tear down a beloved sand box. No one had to prove that he or she was better than everyone else.

Perhaps that is what is missing today. Our technology has taken away the need to work and play with others.  We can live in an isolate world where we make the rules and not care about anyone else. Violence is the answer to everything.  Personally, I have problems with this. Bring back the sand boxes.

Today’s youngsters have lives filled with technology.  What started with simple things like Atari games has grown into cell phones, iPads and iPods, and all sorts of new and more complicated technology. Don’t think of me as anti-technology.  I have worked in the field for over thirty years, more if you count the “data processing” years in the military.  At the same time, I wonder if all of these new “toys” have caused today’s youth to miss out on things that are important – things like sand boxes.

While this may not be true in large urban areas, in rural America almost every family had a sand box if they had young children.  The sand box could be as simple as four boards nailed together into a square or rectangle or as complex as a metal square with seats on the sides, an umbrella over the top, and a way to drain any water from the bottom.  The only common feature was they were all filled with sand.

Sand boxes were places where one could play alone or one could play with family, friends, or neighbors.  They were places where the only limit to play was imagination.  Children could have toys like trucks, tractors, dolls, or almost anything in their sand boxes.  Sand boxes were places where we learned sharing, cooperation, and how to deal with others.  Perhaps most importantly, they were places where we learned that disagreements were not the end of the world.

Sure, there were arguments.  We got mad at those who didn’t say or do what we wanted. We yelled at each other. We occasionally had fights. Sometimes we were so mad that we took our toys and went home.  Even so, after we calmed down, we usually ended back in the sand box playing with the same friends again. No one needed to go home and get a gun to shoot someone. No one needed to tear down a beloved sand box. No one had to prove that he or she was better than everyone else.

Perhaps that is what is missing today. Our technology has taken away the need to work and play with others.  We can live in an isolate world where we make the rules and not care about anyone else. Violence is the answer to everything.  Personally, I have problems with this. Bring back the sand boxes.