Why Have We Lost Our Marbles

/ rothpoetry

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Whatever happened to little boys (and girls)
Who used to trade and shoot marbles with their thumbs?
Drawing a circle in the sand // taking turns
Seeing who was the best shot…
There was a time when children played outside every day;
Enjoying fresh air // interacting with each other
Building lifelong friendships.
Children today also use their thumbs;
Not to shoot marbles; rather, to type texts
and play video games on a computer.
Isolated in a non-social world of their fantasy;
Their thumbs to click through dark worlds
Of monsters, shooters, aliens, and walking dead…
Collecting points on a screen, instead of marbles in a bag.
And we wonder why kids today go off the deep end!

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Photo: Dwight L. Roth

 

 

26 thoughts on “Why Have We Lost Our Marbles”

  2. You’re exactly right, Dwight. My kids were outside a lot and we did activities outside as a family, like hikes in the dunes and riding bikes, and there wasn’t a huge indoor draw — until Nintendo, then computers came along.

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  10. You know, this poem is incredible, and it puts me in mind of the peculiarity of my own generation. Born on the cusp of GenX and Millenial, I feel like my generation was the last to enjoy the wonders of an internet-free childhood. Where yes, we did play marbles! I collected them actually. I had hundreds of them! We also spent all day outside during the summer, on our bicycles chasing the ice cream truck. I grew up on a property with a lot of woods and fields, and we would just play out there all day. I didn’t have a cell phone until college. My high school experience wasn’t captured on social media (thank heaven) 🙂 I do feel like our generation (sometimes called the Xennials) is truly the last of that! It has always made me a bit sad.

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