A Digital Infection Affects Cycling's Future

Younger generations find more enjoyment from screen related activities.

Most likely you have noticed something which you feel is true, but maybe you are not sure. It seems younger generations just do not spend a lot of time outdoors, and when you do see youngsters outside, more often than not there is a glowing screen reflecting off their faces. 

Am I dreaming, or is this a real thing?

Well, the National Football League, a multi-million dollar business, has been doing research into trends and fan interest to help them navigate the future. They have found, according to their own research, that younger people are not as interested in watching sports on TV or even live. Their interests are being more and more consumed by "screen time". 

I ran across this because I am a Green Bay Packers fan and I read about this on a site called "Cheeshead TV" here. I'm not certain the cycling industry has the money or is unified enough to accomplish a study like this one I referenced coming from the NFL, but you can safely assume that if the NFL is concerned about "screen time", we as cyclists should be as well. 

Let's be honest, it is hard to sell this over a digital game, unless "you get it".

I suppose it might be a little hard to understand for older folks like myself, but I happen to be a parent of two "Gen Z" people, and let me tell ya, they spend a LOT of time looking at screens! Television used to be The Devil when I was young. I recall a lot of hue and cry regarding how my generation was doomed to fail because we spent so much time in front of televisions. I recall there being concerns over how our generation was going to ruin our eyesight, be heavily influenced to be violent, and be uneducated because we sat in front of television screens. 

Obviously, that all was partially false, or mostly so. I mean, I think I turned out alright. Maybe not.... However; one thing is certain, I did not "fail" because I was born into a generation raised on television. So, perhaps all this hand-wringing over digitally infected minds is overwrought and unnecessary. But also, there seems to be an addictive factor to screen usage. 

According to studies recently published, (detailed in this article from Nicholas Children's Hospital) children are experiencing dopamine release effects similar to those of nicotine or cocaine users while they use digital screens and consume online social media content. That's alarming, and if this is true, it is pretty telling when it comes to the lack of youngster's interests in outdoor activities like sports and cycling in particular. 

We see the effects of this digital infection when we run across distracted drivers.  Even we cyclists are affected when we are consumed by our cycling GPS screens and all the information that gets shoved into our craniums while we are supposed to be enjoying being immersed in nature. It's everywhere, this digital madness! 

So, I hesitate to lay this all on our youth, because if we are honest, we all are being seduced by those glowing screens of doom and those electronic devices we all crave. But one thing is certain, we have a problem, and if we could peel our faces away from the screens to look in a mirror, we might find who to blame.