Adolescent Physical Activity Mirrors Tween TV
Looking out your window and seeing little girls playing double-dutch or hopscotching while their male counterparts make fun in a game of kickball has become a think of the past. Board games and puzzles are pretty much a box of fossils to those born after the millennium. Teens and tweens today are more involved with sophisticated video games and cellular devices. Where the antenna used to be a viable attachment to television sets, expensive game consoles are now.
A sustainable argument can be made that kids are doing less because they are watching less when factoring in digital technology and media. There is no singular cause to the lack of physical fun teens have, but the culture of what they watch after school possibly does affect how they have fun. Shifting in TV culture plays a part in how teens occupy their time. The 90s, for example, was a decade full of great TV that happened to be ever-changing making it a suitable scale to weigh adolescent fitness against.
Obstacle Course
American Gladiators, Guts, Wild and Crazy Kids, and Treasures of the Hidden Temple are just a few shows that dominated teen viewing in the early 90s. What these shows have in common are kids and young adults competing in obstacle courses made to at least look like fun. Even sitcoms often promoted similar athletic endeavors. One of Saved By the Bell's most endeared episodes involves a cast-wide obstacle course. It was during this time that kids more often attempted the same courses with tires, sticks, cable cords, wooded areas, and just about any scrap they could find.
Music TV
It was in the mid-90s that TV became more musically inclined. With hit shows like TRL and 106 and Park, those popular fun-filled obstacle courses became replaced with music video countdown shows. Sitcoms and dramas became more musically influenced and Hip Hop had made its way to the small screen with shows like The Fresh Prince of Bell Air. More kids began to make bands in their parents' garages and imitate hip hop culture.
Reality TV
The end of the 90s was the bud of €being famous for being famous€. This was the beginning of witty comebacks and good looks notwithstanding any real talent for getting a show. Instead of competing outside, or making music, or even hanging out, more teens became invested in appearance and sarcasm. Physical fun is commonly reserved for athletes while bounce house rentals and moonwalks are popularly used for younger children.
A sustainable argument can be made that kids are doing less because they are watching less when factoring in digital technology and media. There is no singular cause to the lack of physical fun teens have, but the culture of what they watch after school possibly does affect how they have fun. Shifting in TV culture plays a part in how teens occupy their time. The 90s, for example, was a decade full of great TV that happened to be ever-changing making it a suitable scale to weigh adolescent fitness against.
Obstacle Course
American Gladiators, Guts, Wild and Crazy Kids, and Treasures of the Hidden Temple are just a few shows that dominated teen viewing in the early 90s. What these shows have in common are kids and young adults competing in obstacle courses made to at least look like fun. Even sitcoms often promoted similar athletic endeavors. One of Saved By the Bell's most endeared episodes involves a cast-wide obstacle course. It was during this time that kids more often attempted the same courses with tires, sticks, cable cords, wooded areas, and just about any scrap they could find.
Music TV
It was in the mid-90s that TV became more musically inclined. With hit shows like TRL and 106 and Park, those popular fun-filled obstacle courses became replaced with music video countdown shows. Sitcoms and dramas became more musically influenced and Hip Hop had made its way to the small screen with shows like The Fresh Prince of Bell Air. More kids began to make bands in their parents' garages and imitate hip hop culture.
Reality TV
The end of the 90s was the bud of €being famous for being famous€. This was the beginning of witty comebacks and good looks notwithstanding any real talent for getting a show. Instead of competing outside, or making music, or even hanging out, more teens became invested in appearance and sarcasm. Physical fun is commonly reserved for athletes while bounce house rentals and moonwalks are popularly used for younger children.
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