Mobiles, internet, online friends – Nina Butler, 52, wishes she had these growing up!
WORDS: ASHLEIGH PAGE. TORTUE.UK
When I listen to my kids Halle, now 25, and Rob, 23, talk about all the adventures they’ve been on around the world, climbing Machu Picchu and the Atlas Mountains, I can’t help but be immensely proud but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little envious too.
They have thousands of pictures and videos documenting their travels, which are priceless memories they can immerse themselves in, whenever they like.
When I was their age, the best I could hope for to capture a memory was a disposable camera, whereby, I’d wait days for the film to be developed and pray that my thumb hadn’t got in the way of the lens.
THEN AND NOW
My kids don’t remember a time before we had internet access at home and they’ve been pretty tech savvy from a young age. ‘You don’t realise how lucky you are,’ I often tell them. And yes, I know how very ‘ancient’ that probably makes me sound to them. But my childhood and teen years were so different to theirs.
In my teens, in the 80s, I used to have to catch a bus into town – trying not to inhale the second-hand smoke of the other passengers (do you remember when you could smoke pretty much anywhere?) – to go to the library whenever I needed to research something for school. It also took hours to trawl through encyclopedias to find specific information, whereas now, kids can just whip their phone out and Google what they need to know in 30 seconds.
Admittedly, I did love reading old newspapers on the microfiche reader though.
Both of my children had mobile phones by the time they were 13 – a raspberry pink slide phone for Halle and a flip phone for Rob. They were constantly playing games on them and messaging their friends, and I remember many conversations with Rob about him using too much credit. When I was his age, I never had the luxury of messaging my friends to arrange to meet up. We made plans when we saw each other and we stuck to them. Though I can remember arranging to meet a new friend from work for dinner and ordering us both wine, I ended up drinking both and then leaving very embarr
