How A New HHS Initiative Can Help Reclaim Real-Life Childhood

Think back to your happiest memories of childhood. I am not a gambler, but I would wager it did not involve a screen – or if it did, the happy memory probably had more to do with who you were with than the particulars of what you were watching. I think back to my own childhood, and I remember overturning rocks in the creek bed in search of crawfish or catching minnows and tadpoles; learning needlepoint from my grandmother and fishing with my grandfather; riding bikes and spontaneous games of kick-the-can or hide-and-seek with neighborhood kids.

What memories will this generation of children have to look back on? Because according to most available data, they are not spending their time outdoors or with family or friends. They are largely living their lives on screens.