Welcome 2017 - the games kids play.

So here we are in 2017. Didn't think I'd see it since I was born before the middle of the twentieth century. I feel so old and outdated now. So much has changed since I was a kid that I can hardly remember how things were then. Main question is whether they are happier now then we were back then.

My kids used to ask me how I spent time then since there was no handphone, no i pad, no computer games, no electrical toys, battery operated bicycles and kiddy cars and…no colour television. It must be terribly boring, they say. And when I said, "No, we enjoyed ourselves just as much if not more than you all," they just laughed in disbelief.
modern games
Let me ask the old men of today whether they agree with me.The games we played were simple using whatever furniture, pieces of sticks or cardboards, old household utensils such as a paper bag, a discarded tin can or bottle….anything at all. Matchbox, cigarette box, rubber band etc all had their use. When there was nothing to play with we just play games among ourselves such as "catch me if you can", hopscotch, hide-and-seek and so on. The fun was as great as the characters involved and their idiosyncrasies. The main feature of our fun and games was that it involves a group, at least two people.
war with magic wands
That's the big difference now. Kids play alone with their electronic gadgetries except at parties. And when they play together without adult supervision they quarrel and fight.Even the electronic games most popular and can be played together involved competition and serous fighting. The weapons used in the games can kill enemies like flies. There's no kindness, mercy and respect for life and limbs invoked or nurtured in the hearts of the players…
killing and destroying is fun
I wonder whether the world of today which is full of wars, fightings, killings, inhuman atrocities, destruction of life and limbs, cruelties and gruesome competition or abject hypocrisies, is the result of the games that kids play. Just look at the nature of the toys designed and produced by our manufacturers. Even most of the cartoon characters loved by the children of today cary an evil or sinister background as presented by the films they came from.

I shudder to think how the kids who had wiped out thousands of adversaries in their games, without betting an eye, will grow up to be. They might just kill off an enemy, be it a family member, a neighbour or a stranger without any compunction.