Can You Imagine Gen Z In “The Squid Game” Without Their Beloved Technology?
Spoiler alert — Everyone would die in the first round.
Three out of every four, or 244 million, people in the U.S. play video games, increasing 32 million people since 2018. Multi-device usage has increased, with 65% of gamers using more than one device vs. 59% in 2018, according to the 2020 Gamer Segmentation Repor. — The NPD Group.
Those who saw The Squid Game know that all the games played were childish. Outdoor activities that we people over 30 used to play when we were children.
In fact, in the series, you can see two of the characters comment that “they did not know X game, that they were Baby boomers activities,” and they were right. They are games of Boomers or the first millennials.
Imagine a scenario where Generation Z has to be forced to enter the Squid Game without knowing what activities they will carry out. Oh, surprise! these are games that their parents or grandparents played.
It would be difficult for them to pass the first round, not because they don’t have the intelligence or the ability, but because, even if they are given the rules, they don’t know the game. They would lack the capacity to perform well without someone to guide them.
It would be a fatal end for the Gen Z recruits; why? Due to not having enjoyed a childhood away from home and just getting to know the fantastic world of video games.
Traditional Games (Boomers Games).
The Babby Boomers games were filled with the outdoors, sunshine, and physical activity. The memories of those afternoons playing until dusk in the streets are full of nostalgia and joy. Played these games were in groups (at least three people), they were, for example:
- Hopscotch.
- Hide-and-seek.
- Marble play.
- Kick the can.
- British Bulldog.
- Stuck in the mud.
The benefits of traditional games are many, it was not only fun, but indirectly they gave us great well-being such as:
- Exercise: Without realizing it, they spent hours playing, and at the same time exercising in a fun way, which also helped us to improve develop and improve our motor skills.
- Reduction of a sedentary lifestyle: Achieving that children and adolescents have better health, be more independent, and increase dopamine, thereby reducing the risk of suffering from depression or anxiety (a widespread condition in children and adolescents today).
- Value and respect for nature: Yes, yes, yes, I know that generation Z is characterized by being very careful with the environment; But before, we used to play in the streets and parks, learning to take care of and enjoy that environment.
- Improvement of social skills: we played, but at the same time, we socialized, we learned to handle conflicts, we fought, but we also solved problems ourselves.
- Encouragement of learning: Traditional games allow the child or teenager to learn about teamwork, strategies, collaboration, and to develop self-confidence.
These games are difficult to perceive by today’s youth since the screens are the true protagonists.
How much damage can video games do to the current generation?
The Polemic Generation Z is controversial for being different from the later generation.
They are born with technology and could not live without the internet (I don’t blame them, neither could I) and without being interconnected. But this hyperconnection can bring many behavioral problems.
The fault is not necessarily the child or the adolescent; The responsibility lies with those who guide them, their parents.
Some parents want so much to please their children, or worse still, they look for a way to “rest” from them that they make them connect to a tablet, cell phone, or video game for hours and hours without weighing the consequences.
According to the study carried out by Newzoo, specialists in video game statistics, the younger the generation, the more time they dedicate to games.
Both Gen Z and Millennials spend about seven hours on average each week playing games. This company interviewed more than 72,000 people in 33 markets for this study. (and this would be a typical environment, not a toxic one).
Video games amuse us, they help us connect cybernetically with other young people with similar tastes, but it also brings many troubles…
- More and more children and young people look tired as they spend hours playing, reducing their sleep hours.
- More and more children and young people prefer to be locked in their rooms playing than going out to have fun or sharing with their family.
- More and more children and young people are suffering from depression, anxiety, and social phobias.
- More and more children and young people are addicted to video games. They prefer to play them, avoiding any other activity necessary to develop their mental and physical capacity.
So what can we do?
It isn’t easy. It’s a problem with having to deal with.
Video game companies will do nothing about it (this is a huge business).
Commerce, in general, will not do anything as long as it generates money. Then, it only remains for the family, parents, and the person himself to take action.
First, parents must know the consequences of their children becoming excessive consumers of video games before this happens. If the problem is already in the child, a specialist can treat it to make the kid a little independent from the sedentary life caused by video games.
If a young adult already has the problem, he must be aware that he must detach himself from dependence on gambling and begin to live as an adult.
It’s not that they stop playing; it’s that he learns to balance things.
It would be ideal for today’s parents to form a group and manage to revive traditional games. It does not mean that video games have to be eliminated (I also love them), but restoring the old positive habits is in everyone’s hands to have a more balanced world.
There is no specific recipe that sets a time limit or an indicator of video game abuse. It is a balance: you have to find the balance. — Beth Daley
