Most people couldn’t imagine a day without their fancy smartphones, but a family in Guelph, Ontario, Canada has decided to shun all post-1986 technology from their lives for a whole year, as part of a social experiment.
It all started last year when Blair McMillan asked his five-year old son if he wanted to come outside and play, only to realize that even on a perfect summer day the child preferred to stay indoors and play video games on an iPad. He started thinking about his own childhood and how today’s youth have become so dependent on modern technology like computers, mobile phones and the internet.
The 26-year-old father-of-two talked to teens and young people in their 20′s, most of which confessed they couldn’t even picture their lives without all their different gadgets, and began questioning contemporary public service announcements that encourage parents to get their kids active outdoors for at least 30 minutes a day.
He remembered that when he was a child, it was nearly impossible to keep kids siting quietly indoors for half an hour. And that’s when it hit him – what if he could go back in time and give his own children a taste of how life was back then? Since April, the McMillans have given up all modern-day technology, and went back to living in 1986 (the year Blair and his wife were born) with its bad hair, cassette tapes and most importantly, real social interaction.
Isn't that how the Amish and Mennonites started way back? They decided they didn't need all the new fangled gadgets of the time - electricity, indoor plumbing, cars, tractors or anything else with a motor. Maybe there's a movement afoot...the New Amish. Life before computers...seems I remember that although my memory does get a little hazy now and then. What's your name again?
See ya, eh!
Bob
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