We are raising vicious zombies

Millennials could pass as the luckiest lot to ever enjoy technology at a tender age but at the same time, I would say they are the unluckiest lot when it comes to fun.

I know most of them will be quick to claim that what they are experiencing now on gadgets, WiFi and some of these indoor games is fun. Let me tell you today, until you turn back the time and feel what we felt back then, I can assure you that you haven't seen fun yet. Not when your kind of fun is controlled by electricity, WiFi and traffic.

During our days, apart from carrying very light bags to school on Fridays, we also had with us 'jerricans' of water to go scrub the classrooms after lessons. The only things that made our bags just a little bit heavier were the packed lunch boxes containing well balanced diet meals.

Not the snacks they carry to school these days ending up in their teachers' tummies when they are out on a forced break. The trips to and from school were something worth looking forward to because of the many detours we had along the way. In fact, by the time some of us got to school, our lunch was already half eaten because of the extra energy we used while detouring. Remember, the earliest we would wake up to head to school was 6 am unlike millennials who are at par with their working parents; waking up at dawn to beat traffic to school and carrying bags heavier than themselves.

We had enough games to play back then. Games that required no power or gadget, creativity carried the day. Not like the millennials who look like horrified bats during the day whenever there is a power shortage. We actually never ran out of anything, not even dolls; not when the tiniest person in the group could play a doll's part. We sung different traditional songs that cut across all cultures not even knowing what they meant. We did not care whether our pronunciation was good as long as we had fun. Our mothers were not glued to any gadgets either, if they were not at work or running house chores, they were basking in the sun admiring our play sessions with bathroom slippers in one hand to spank anyone who went astray. That was very different from the 'play sessions' we have these days where every game has been digitalised. Instead of getting on a bicycle and cycling their way to fun, our children have been subjected to cycling via video games. Children no longer fight for maize cobs in the house to make the best dolls but instead fight over mobile phones, laptops and charging ports!

Parents have turned their homes into little prison cells for their children, unless accompanied by the house managers, the children are not allowed out. Because of this, we are unknowingly raising zombies who operate on autopilot. Children with no attachment to humanity, they can walk to an adult, give them a slap and walk away like they have just won an Oscar. Just recently as I was getting home from work, I came across four children in my neighbourhood aged around three crying hysterically. My motherly instincts made me stop to enquire what the problem was and one of them told me a boy had taken their toy, this he said as he pointed to the direction the boy was. The boy who was about six years was standing about five metres from us looking at me suspiciously still holding the toy. I started walking towards him as I asked him why he had taken the toy from the rest. Just then he started running towards me waving a sling shouting at me to go away. I got angry and stopped to pick up a stick just to show him I was serious about spanking him if he did not give back the toy. To this day, I still regret why I pocked my long nose into their business! As I bent to pick up the stick, the boy got to me and whipped my behind with the rubber sling with all his might! Immediately I realised how powerless I was, took to my heels and locked myself in my house! If this is the fun we are subjecting our children to now, then they might never experience fun at all.