Tech vs Touch
Kids once ruled the open street,
barefoot souls and reckless feet,
laughing loud with scraped-up knees,
running wild, alive, and free.
Now they sit with heads bent low,
faces lit by a lifeless glow,
thumbs that move but bodies fade,
a generation slowly erased.
Skipping ropes turned into wires,
soccer dreams to screen desires,
laughter traded, piece by piece,
for silent rooms and no release.
We gave them screens and called it growth,
sold them lies and fed them both,
but stripped away what made them whole
and pixelated every soul.
“lol”, “brb”, “I’m fine”, they lie,
laughing in text while dead inside,
emotions typed, not felt, not real
just empty words they cannot feel.
“Seen 12:01”… no reply,
that silence hits harder than goodbye,
friendships buried in a thread,
human hearts just left on read.
Girls don’t look like girls no more,
they edit pain down to the core,
filters blur what’s real and raw
until they hate what they once saw.
Lips reshaped, skin pulled tight,
faces built for someone else’s eyes,
but what happened to that simple shine
Vaseline gloss and a real smile line?
Now beauty comes with terms and cost,
and every flaw feels like a loss,
because a screen told them they’re not enough…
and after a while, they believe that stuff.
“No filter “but we know that lie,
ten edits deep just to get by,
a perfect face that isn’t theirs
a quiet war nobody hears.
Imagination used to run wild,
a cardboard box became a child’s world,
a stick a sword, the ground a sea
they built whole lives from “make-believe.”
“The floor is lava!” don’t touch the ground,
jumping couch to chair, heart racing, loud,
one wrong step and you would “fall,”
then laugh it off no fear at all.
Now every story’s pre-designed,
no space left in a child’s mind,
no dragons drawn, no worlds to build
just endless scrolling… imagination killed.
Questions used to make them think,
now answers come before they blink,
no struggle, no depth, no reason why
just instant truth that slowly kills the mind.
Pages closed, no need to learn,
no fire left to chase or yearn,
just scroll, consume, don’t ask, don’t fight
a brain that’s full but starved of light.
And under all that glowing blue,
anxiety grows, quiet… but true,
because no screen no matter how bright
can hold you when you break at night.
Now every thought, each pose, each breath,
is measured close to social death,
likes decide if you exist
miss a post, and you’re dismissed.
They’ll trade their peace for one more view,
their worth for something never true,
gain a crowd but lose their name
turning pain into content for fame.
And while they chase that hollow crown,
something real keeps breaking down,
because behind each viral screen
there’s someone hurting, unseen.
Predators don’t come with signs,
they hide in jokes and pick-up lines,
“you’re so mature”… “don’t tell a soul”…
and slowly take another’s control.
Online they’re fearless, loud, untamed,
in person? quiet, small, ashamed,
no eye contact, no steady voice
just fear disguised as a choice.
“you good?”… “yeah”… the easiest lie,
typed out quick, then left to die,
because it’s easier to pretend you’re okay…
than admit you’re fading day by day.
We traded touch for hollow connection,
real love for online attention,
a world so loud, yet no one hears
just silent screams behind the ears.
We didn’t just lose games and play,
we lost the worlds we used to create,
the magic, the wonder, the endless “pretend”…
a kind of freedom that had no end.
We didn’t just lose what we could show…
we lost the minds that used to grow.
And now these kids will never know…
what it feels like to be real…
before the world became a show.
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