Everytime I see a little kid with earbuds in, I almost lose it.

I grew up in the 80s-90s. I had zero parental supervision as a kid. I woke up every morning, walked to the bus stop, hung out with friends after school, and played basketball until dinner. I didn’t see my parents all day. Breakfast was cerial and lunch was either a bag sandwich or the school pay lunch. Dinner was with the family each night.<br><br>I could NOT have been more sheltered. The cops in my neighborhood were the good cops and we didn’t think it was odd for them to take us kids fishing on the weekends. I rarely saw my parents fighting and was never once told to “shut the fuck up.”<br><br>Today: every kid is walking around with earbuds in, listening to music all day. Yea yea, kids did it when I was young, but not like this. And with a phone to match. These kids have been raised by their parents, a squad of 6 monitors at school, and social media. I can barely watch them do school plays, they are so fidgety. Not one kid is there doing the normal kid stuff. They are inside with an earbud in watching youtube videos of gameplay.<br><br>I swear my kid being born in 2006 was the last of the good years. By 2012 there was something wrong with this place.