Those darn youngsters and their screens! I hate to say it, but I’ve had this idea a lot lately. When it comes to arranging our children’s summer vacation, a part of my brain expects they’ll spend the majority of their time outside with their friends, inventing games, riding bikes, and coming inside to get popsicles. What I did at their age. However, in actuality, things have not turned out as expected. The majority of the neighborhood’s children are either at camp or indoors, watching TV or playing video games.

When I attempt to get my kids to go outside more, they grumble and push back. Is it conceivable that this generation has forgotten how to play? Are smartphones and tablets responsible for this bizarre phenomenon? One father recently had the wonderful idea of taking his children to the park, taking their phones away, and forcing them to play. The findings were not what he had hoped for.

“It was a nice day outside,” Charles Lavea told Newsweek. “I thought we might go grab lunch and dine in the park. I removed my girls’ electronics, including phones and iPads, and left them at home. I wanted them to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air, so we went.”

What occurred next is captured in footage provided by Lavea on TikTok. His two children are portrayed sitting on swings, swinging back and forth, unsure what to do with themselves. You can see they’re merely dissociating till Dad’s strange little experiment is finished. They would like to be anyplace else in the world. They specifically want to check in on what’s going on with their phones. It’s all over their features and in their sad, bent posture.

Watch the funny video here:

@lifewithlaveas This generation man 🤣🤣🤦 I remember growing up all we did was play at the park with the kids in the neighbourhood 🤷 #lifewithlaveas #girldad #funnymoments #trendingsound #titanicflutefail #tiktokparent #viralvideos #fyp ♬ original sound – LifeWithLaveas

Commenters had a field day, and the majority agreed: kids “these days” don’t know how to play outside.

“Bro, when I was that age, me and my sister would see who could swing the highest and jump off the swing on our feet.”

“They would rather watch other kids playing from their devices.”

“Kids today will have no idea what we went through since phones, gaming computers, iPhones, Samsungs, tablets, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram did not exist. Even getting internet was difficult when we just had dial-up access.”

“Honestly, today’s youngsters have no concept of how to play outside, eh? My kids, too 😂🙈 I used to sprint out the door and never return till the streetlights went on.

The data backs this up. In recent decades, there has been a startling decrease in the amount of time that children spend playing outside. According to one survey, just 6% of children aged nine to thirteen typically play outside without supervision.

But is it as simple as stating that phones and tablets have rewired our children’s brains to the point that the enjoyment of playing outside cannot compete with the rapid and easy dopamine doses received on screens? Yes, it is part of the problem. But did you know that just about 20% of children walk or bike to school, although 70% of parents did when they were younger? That is not the children’s fault, and it is certainly not because they are in their room playing on their iPads. Because our culture has instilled such dread in parents that their children may be abducted or struck by a car, we hardly allow them out of our sight nowadays.

Kids also have less unstructured leisure time than in the past. The average child is involved in more sports, clubs, and extracurricular activities than ever before. These activities are often beneficial on their own—they push them, teach them new skills, and allow them to meet new friends. However, it does not give children much opportunity to use their imaginations and devise crazy outdoor activities with other kids, which is also necessary.

It’s easy to complain about how fascinated kids are with their devices—and, of course, to chuckle when dads like Lavea demonstrate that their kids hardly know how to operate a swing set—but change will have to begin with us parents. The displays are not going anywhere. Outdoor play is extremely beneficial to a child’s intellect, body, and spirit. We may simply have to clumsily force them into it a bit more frequently, which may include putting our own concerns aside or (the scariest of all) putting our own phones down to lead the way.