When I was young, my sister and I would venture out into the “wilderness”—the outside of our suburban house. Hike the trails of the building housing development. Or dive into the berry bushes in a nearby elementary school. We would play near the gutter of the street that looked like a river where we would float things down…leaves, a plastic shovel…and try to catch it before it went to the drain. Or ride our bikes to the bike trail, exploring the neighborhood looking to secretly pick fruit off neighbor’s trees—plums, loquat, guava. And sometimes in angry angst, I would take a shovel from the garage and dig a hole to China in our backyard wanting to get to the other side of the world.

Our parents left us primarily unattended as we explored the world. My parents seem to have a philosophy that children will learn as they grow. I never recalled a moment that my parents said “no, you’re too young for that” or anything visibly protective. Perhaps it was because they are foreigners. In Chinese school, I remember the teachers would let us run wild…during recess…nobody telling us to stop and pay attention. Freedom. My dad liked watching movies and he never censored anything. Although to this day, I question whether I should have watched that eye-stabbing scene in Demolition Man when I was…too young???

It seems that kids the current generation are different. They are surrounded by technology that guarantees safety. Are parents becoming too protective?

Today I read about a recent move to censor The Giver in East Bay schools. I barely remember what the book was about. But what happens if everyone is protected? Are people cultivating a generation of kids who don’t know the world beyond their room? That they are safe because they’re in their room with a computer outfitted with all the latest firewalls and blocks to dangerous sites. Like the movie Idiocracy, is
a generation of idiots growing?

When I was 11, 12, 13, I wouldn’t say that I was the brightest of the lot. But like many others, I believe I came a long way.