Go Build Sand Castles
We're losing the sense of play in the most play-worthy moments.
The Teardown
Friday :: June 14th, 2024 :: Approx. 4 min read
👋 Hi, this is Chris with another issue of The Teardown. In every issue, I cover how we evolve in concert with the technology that enables our day-to-day lives. If you’d like to get emails like this in your inbox every week, hit the subscribe button at end of the post.
I wrote my draft almost a year ago. But, never published it. So, this will sound relevant to those of you in summer mode.
I recently spent a week with my family at a resort situated on the Aegean Sea. The resort had all the sites and experiences: bath-like ocean water, picturesque beaches, endless pools, thumping house music, and topless sun bathers and speedo wearers - neither of which I’m used to seeing in the U.S. And, yes, very kid-friendly! Kids everywhere!
The resort also housed a reasonable cross-section of people from the around world. I’m not often in environments where I - average white American guy - am not in the majority. But, from gawking and observing, I heard lots of British folks. The flight from Heathrow (London) To Thessaloniki (Greece) is just three hours. I also heard some German and Russian.
On the beach, kids were splayed everywhere. Some of them didn’t understand each other and instead orbited intruding toys, spaces, and kid-sized holes in pure silence, deciding whether to engage or sink back into the comforts of their comforting parents.
Vacation is a common theme in those introductory details. Who doesn’t love vacation? Yes, with kids, vacation doesn’t seem like relaxation but instead a logistical and emotional puzzle that one must solve every day, but it’s still a disconnect from standard life. Most people fortunate enough to take vacations seem to enjoy them. Younger kids love shacking up with and manipulating their parents for a week or two straight.
At some point in time, the sand castle was common sight at the beach. A vibrant beach (that allows kids) shows the wear and tear of people of all ages attacking the landscape. There are rivers, castles, sculpture, poorly formed letters, and more. Sand castles are among the most popular displays since you need just one castle-forming bucket to create a beachside empire. Or, you’re a sculpting savant with your hands and need to stop showing off.
In theory, the best candidates for empire-building are the kids who are old enough to have some sense of structure, form, symmetry, and the basics of sand texture. Those kids also retain that flash of irrationally high energy required to construct something that requires ever-increasing piles and buckets of sand.
Over the course of a week, I saw four sets of sand castles during my time at the beach instead of the pool. I don’t know if that’s actually high, average, or low based on what normally happens, but I was shocked by how few kids were actually building them, or, even more alarming, playing on the beach at all.
What might they have been building instead? Not much - at least in the physical world. Maybe things in Minecraft. Or some other virtual game like Roblox. Or maybe they were endlessly scrolling YouTube or watching Coco Melon or any other of the variety of kids shows.
They were, as you might have guessed, on phones and tablets. Lots of them. I can hardly blame them, since many of their parents were as well. The camaraderie, conversation, and play that once was common at the beach felt almost obsolete. Almost insulting in a way.
Now, maybe I’m overstating the impact. My town beach is perfect for the social butterfly. It’s hard not to bump into and talk with neighbors and other folks we know around town. It would be strange to sit undisturbed on your phone for an entire morning or afternoon at that town square. But, there are phones there too.
I don’t know if there is a workable solution to the decline in castles. When I’ve got my toes buried below the granular surface, I try to stuff my phone away. I watch and enjoy what my kids are doing. I talk to friends. I listen to the water, the waves, the boats, and the wind.
And, sometimes, I invoke kid-mode and build a huge sand castle. Who doesn’t love that?