Hardly anyone wants to dispute the fact that modern childhood and 8th grade common core math is very different from ours, as it was 30 years ago. In addition to the fact that the trees were higher and the grass was greener, the world has basically changed a lot in that time. How are today’s preschoolers different from us at their age, and why do we find what they like strange.
Children of different generations are very different from each other. Our grandparents marveled at the voice from the radio, moms and dads ran to the movie theater instead of classes, we circled cartoons in the newspaper TV program with a pen, and our children choose what to watch and even record their own favorite shows on video. Parents often feel that “it used to be better,” and that today’s cartoons and children’s programs are much worse than those produced 30 years ago. This is due not only to the eternal conflict between fathers and children, but also to the fact that our children are completely different from us at their age.
They have a different pace.
Today’s preschooler can have as many 8th grade language arts and experiences and experiences in a week as their parents had in their childhood in a few months.
They live at that pace, they have a much harder time waiting. They can’t hang around idly, looking out the window for hours at falling snow and passing cars, and enduring pauses in the dialogues of cartoon characters or long screen savers.
Yes, everything in their favorite cartoons flashes and jumps, in fact, just like in their lives.
Their life is more saturated and filled with information.
The life of modern children is organized differently. As soon as we go out into the street, the city instantly overwhelms us, attacking all of our analyzers. 5th grade science book, pictures, texts, voices and music, people and vehicles – it’s all a constant stream in which we need to navigate, and our children can do it, it’s habitual for them. Therefore, the stories that are interesting to them can be more complex and intense than our favorite cartoons.
They have different requirements.
And both parents and the school. Twenty years ago you couldn’t read or write at age 7, they taught you everything at school. Today’s first-grader needs to know and be able to do a lot of things, and that’s partly why there are so many educational programs and cartoons. Yes, preschoolers can memorize and master all this, they are interested in dinosaurs and the device of household appliances, and they really need it very soon, almost now.
They interact less with their peers.
It was common in our childhood to run out into the yard all day with a key around their neck. For today’s children, not only entertainment, but also friends are chosen by their parents. And it is, of course, only useful events and “right” boys and girls.
So, on the one hand, stories about conflicts, defeating monsters and getting out of difficult situations become interesting, because in reality, this aspect of the relationship is reduced, and dealing with this part of life is very important for the child. On the other hand, children like stories about simple everyday situations that happen, for example, in kindergarten or on the playground.
Perhaps it doesn’t happen often enough in reality to become understood and mastered.
They live in a world with changed values and norms
In today’s cartoons you can find stories about the separation of parents or the adoption of children, about tolerance for differences. And for our children, these can be just as important as the stories about friendship and justice from our childhood. In doing so, they may also be relevant, by the way.
It is important to remember that when we say that modern children do not like Soviet cartoons, it does not mean that they can not like them, and they should not watch them at all. The idea is not to reject new products for children that may not be close to modern adults.