People just don't get it. So many throw a fit about "kids need to go outside more" and all this other crap they say, but I grew up in that world. Being outside was only fun if you were popular, a bully, had sports potential, were a drug dealer, etc. But for those of us who didn't fit into those molds; going outside was like walking through the gates of hell. Video games and the internet was our way of getting the same interactions and relationships that parents expected us to get when they forced us to go outside.
Everybody has this false image that every kid loved going outside "back then." But I remember being forced to go outside. Point blank I hated going outside before video games and the internet became this big thing. I wasn't the only one who felt forced to go outside. I never had fun. I never made friends. I got picked on and was force to constantly be in situations where my weaknesses were always at the forefront rather than allowing my strengths to shine. But my parents were just completely unable to understand that the outside world just wasn't for me, because that's what they believed was good for me. Now it's years later and there has not been a single positive impact as an adult that going outside has brought me. It only gave me memories of terror and a hatred of social situations.
Maybe instead of assuming a certain way is right for everyone, people should try to get to know each other first.
