The Oxygen Tank

Has anyone ever noticed that ninety eight percent of all literature is trash? I am sorry all of you Twilight fans. Honestly, what did that series do for the average American teenager? Score! It inspired them to shut of the television for twenty five minutes to get their fix of the entirely twisted Bella/Edward relationship! Now people actually read! Except for those who forgot how to after the second grade and somehow found the incentive to ask their mother to rent the audio version from the library or maybe even read it to them at bed time. I mean really, I read the books and yes I will admit that can grab your attention but other than that what is so wonderful about them? The diction is that of the average fourteen year old and the sentence structure has the variety of a blank wall but somehow they have Meyer has managed to capture the heart of an entire generation. Giggly girls don “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob” t-shirts and rush to the opening of the movies as if their lives depended on it.
Maybe they do.
Maybe we have come to a point in history where the up and coming generation has become so attracted to alternate realities that the average teen is unable to survive in the tried and true reality of planet earth. I am not criticizing every piece of fiction ever written but the growing dependency of children upon alternate realities.
Children and teens have vivid imaginations that are natural and should be encouraged, to a certain extent. Children should not be discouraged from the creative games that come naturally to them but when a Nintendo DS or some other form of alternate reality is placed in their hands it provides them the key to the door of another world that can potentially become all-consuming.
It sickens me to see five year olds already become attached to their gaming devices in the same desperate way that a patient totes around their oxygen tank. Games can be entertaining and harmless but can also become more real than our ever revolving planet.
My fear is that children will become so addicted to their fantasy worlds that they will no longer be capable of dealing with the realities that surround them. Fictional novels and video games can serve as brilliant stress relievers and food for the creative mind and have the potential for brilliance as well as the looming ability to harm. Our society is so easily pleased by senseless novels and gory games that it is simple to overlook the items of greater importance in life.
I am not, by any means, attempting to discourage reading or call out passionate gamers but only attempting to express my personal ideas on the matter. Pursue simple fiction with a passion or delve into the other worlds of video games but remember that at any time you may be summoned back to the world of your ancestors and no vampire fantasies or captured pixilated castles will be able to help you there.