What you describe is exactly what’s happening to so many children these days.
I put a lot of effort into making sure my children had a different upbringing during their childhood and early teenage years, and it was definitely hard work. My teenagers really enjoy screen games—there are plenty of great ones that require strategic thinking and imagination to achieve the best outcomes. There’s also healthy competition among players, which is a good way to learn. They also take part in physical activities and help with chores at home, so we try to keep things balanced. I’m lucky they’re homebodies, just like their mother.
I grew up in the 90s, and my childhood was quite different from most people’s. I was raised on a mixed farm, and from an early age, my parents relied on us to help with all sorts of tasks. They made sure we learned how to do everything, preparing us to be future farm workers. The farm was two miles from a village with a primary school, which I attended, biking there and back every day. For secondary school, five miles away in a nearby town, we also rode our bikes daily. We played games in the streets and fields, had toys, made things, used our imagination, had fun, learned, and became self-sufficient through the things we did as children. After school, we’d take care of any errands while in town—whether it was going to the market, stopping at the bakery, or doing other chores for our parents—before heading home with cash in hand. I got the internet at home when I was 17, but by then I already had a whole world of my own, so it didn’t change much.
I think nowadays there would be shocked people calling social services and shouting abuse though.