I have been thinking for a long time, how to describe my vision of Europe in 2030. Many of us have a futuristic vision of our planet: vacation spent on the Moon, polluted environment, science-fiction technology which will dominate our everyday life etc. I thought to myself that being asked to describe Europe in 2030 I was not to talk about the ideas shown in science fiction movies, which are more like pure fiction, than realistic predictions. I was asked to picture my remedy for present problems of our society, my own vision. having decided that I would not like to be “mainstream”, I started to look for an inspiration. Luckily, I found one.

It floated down to me on Sunday family dinner. My aunt and her husband visited us with their three-yearold son. He was playing with me and some toys, but he spent most of the time playing on an iPad, which was shocking to me. What was even more unbelievable, was the ease with which he was using it! It was simply easier for his parents to let him play and make him sit quietly.

At the age of 17 we are the generation who spent our childhood playing outside or with our parents and not in front of the computer. I started to think, whether this observation will influence our future parenthood.

Thinking about my childhood I recall playing with puppets, toys, drawing, playing in the backyard, dancing etc. I also remember the time, when my brother allowed me to use his computer for one hour weekly, but I was already seven years old, not three. I received my first mobile phone at the age of ten, and believe me, it was not the latest model at that time. Nowadays, we can see children at school who play with their brand new smartphones during breaks instead of doing sports outside. When did we lose control over technological development? When did we become so addicted to it? High time we realized that technology, while sometimes seemingly simplifying our lives, destroys its many other aspects that used to be important at one time, like family life. Nowadays families gather in front of the TV, instead of playing board games. I’m afraid that in the era of computers and widely available Internet we forgot those simplest ways of spending time with our families.

Thinking about my children, who in 2030 will probably be at the age of seven, I would love their childhood to be similar to mine, with limited access to computers. But the question is: what will other parents do? What if they use an iPad as their child’s nanny? I think nobody wants to alienate their kids. Neither do I. The best solution is to take advantage of the advances in technology, use them to teach skills that are essential for a child’s development, like counting. Unfortunately, I am afraid, it will be impossible to totally eliminate technology from our children’s lives. At the same time, I believe that we should do our best to preserve the traditional sense of childhood, which has always been about preparing a man for an adult life in a society, rather than virtual world of games and the Internet. The point is not to let technology dominate our lives.

Being a dreamer, I truly believe, that in 2030 the Europeans will not only be capable of remembering about their work-life balance, but also about quality time spent with their families and bringing up their children with fewer electronic gadgets. Limiting the use of such electronic devices will benefit in e.g. 2060, when you see your children raising your grand-children in the same way you did.

While looking at this problem from different angles, I noticed that because of this common use of technology, more and more children are obese. It’s a serious problem of our times. Reducing the time your beloved once spend sitting in front of the computer or with an iPad, you will do them a favor playing football with them or finding some interesting dance classes. Not only will you strengthen your relationship with them, but you will also guarantee your children’s health, which will let them live longer.

To conclude, as a society we are becoming more and more aware of the threats of the 21st century. Observing our younger brothers and sisters, we can see that addiction to electronic gadgets weakens family ties and causes obesity. I hope that as future doctors, teachers, and mainly parents, we will do everything to protect the next generations from illnesses of the 21st century. This is my optimistic vision of Europe in 2030, where we, as a conscious community, will be able to face many problems, and, what is important, solve them.