Quiet Time

I heard an interesting talk on WNPR the other day as I was driving along. It was the author of a book, The Fourteen Traditions, talking about how children today have way too much stimulation, entertainment, planned activities and passive activity in their lives. The book is a comparison of the present generation to those of previous, quieter, less "entertained" generations. It poses the question, "Is all the stimulation, entertainment and activity that technology affords the young and into which we are all plunged, good for us? How will this change children of this generation from those of the past? How will we develop contemplative, self-reflective adults if the means through which these qualties are achieved is changed?"

This author, whose name I can't recall just now, stressed how he grew up with a strong sense of self developed through quiet, reflective activities. Children were encouraged to read, write, imagine or reflect during free time. There was little in the way of entertainment. Days were spent in school or work or doing chores. What little time there was for play was spent in imaginary games and environments - places where only the mind could go. Toys were made, not bought. Evenings were quietly spent around the dinner table talking over the day. and, if there was any time afterwards, it was spent with reading, a stamp collection or family storytelling.

Now, conversation is infrequent, if at all, among family members. Everyone is tuned in to his or her own mode of entertainment. The television is going, as are the portable DVD players and ipods. Children and teenagers spend free time engaged in playstations, xbox, computer games, ipods, video or other entertaining and technology heavy pastimes. Where and when does anyone reflect on what one is doing? There's so much doing, is there actually any time to absorb it all; to comprehend it all or to see ourselves in it?

This is a metacog blog. So the question becomes, how and when do our children learn to learn about themselves if they are always so busy? Does metacognition exist for them?