In an opinion piece for Fox News, the author reflects on growing up as a millennial before smartphones and social media dominated childhood, arguing that today's children are missing out on the unstructured freedom that shaped earlier generations. The piece contrasts a childhood centred on boredom, imagination and real-world play with a modern upbringing increasingly consumed by screens, suggesting this shift has costs for how children develop and discover who they are.

The author recalls millennial-era technology such as family computers, Nintendo 64, DVDs, flip phones and iPods, noting that these tools occupied a limited place in daily life rather than dominating it entirely. Prompted by nostalgic social media content depicting 1990s and early 2000s childhoods—sleepovers, bike rides and mall hangouts—the writer argues that today's children deserve the same chance to grow up with technology as a peripheral tool rather than an all-consuming presence.