The Virtual Reality of 2027
Friday March 5, 2027
It’s 8 a.m. and I’m making the kids their lunch for school. As I put Logan’s lunchbox in his backpack I realize he is missing his most important school supply: his virtual reality goggles.
“Log, come on buddy, the bus will be here in 5 minutes stop playing games on your goggles.”
“Sorry mom! I forgot to do my assignment for science class.”
Reluctant to believe that he actually “forgot to do an assignment,” I go upstairs to check on him. I knew he was actually playing Star Wars: Episode XV The Actual Final Return of the Jedi, because it is the latest game that all his classmates are playing and he has to be the first one to pass the entire game.
“Hey Log. How’s the science assignment going?”
“It’s going good.”
“What’s the assignment?”
“Ummmm, you know Mrs. Fitzgerald just wanted us to travel to the moon and count all the human footsteps we could find.”
“You know you can’t count the footsteps on the moon while playing Star Wars, right?”
“You’re right, let me finish battling Darth Vader then I’ll catch the bus.”
“Okay, make it quick your sister is waiting for you.”
Surprisingly, Logan and Avery both made it on the bus this morning, which I am very grateful for. However, I’m starting to think these virtual reality goggles are more of a curse than a blessing.
I’ll start by explaining the perks of the goggles. My children use these goggles in almost every subject at school. For science class, they get to virtually travel to outer space and learn about the planets. It’s one thing to understand the phases of the moon by reading a book, but being able to stand on the moon and virtually see the phases of the moon adds a new perspective of understanding. They come home from school and explain to me how cool Jupiter’s moons are or how they got to step directly on the very first human footprint on the moon. The goggles allow my children to see so much of the world, even outside our world, and the knowledge they can gain is infinite. In their history class, the goggles can take them back to any actual point in history that has been recorded. Last week, Logan’s class got to see the inauguration of President Barack Obama. He could not believe all the people that came to see the inauguration and he was in more shock when he saw the lack of people at Trump’s inauguration. My children are so much more engaged with school because of the googles and they look forward to going to school each day. The goggles allow my children to see things that I could never show them. This sense of engaged learning provides for an amazing education and they’re learning about things that I never had the opportunity to learn about and for that I am grateful.
The goggles allow my children to see anything their little hearts desire, but I’m starting to think they’re exposed to too much information. On the weekends my husband and I really struggle entertaining our children. Last weekend I asked Avery and Logan if they wanted to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and Logan was like “Mom, why would we want to go to the zoo in the city that takes forever to get to when we can put on our goggles and see all the really cool animals that live in the Amazon Rainforest?” Finding a vacation spot is even harder to please them. We can’t take them to Disneyworld because they’ve already “virtually” rode every ride in each park. We normally don’t tell the kids when we go on vacation so they can’t virtually travel to the destination before we actually travel to the destination. It truly amazes me how satisfied they are by virtually seeing something. The teachers at school have banned goggles from lunch and recess so the kids can actually go play outside and enjoy real life. I’ve noticed that my kids would rather stay inside on a beautiful day rather than spending time outside because they can virtually be outside while sitting on our sofa. They have lost all motivation to actually experience things. As long as they can do really cool things through their goggles they don’t care about real life, first hand, seeing with out googles on experiences and I just can not fathom this. I tell my kids about how I was at Wrigley Field in 2016 when the Cubs finally won the World Series after 108 years and how it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Logan thinks it’s not big deal because he can virtually relive the Cubs victory, but I tell him that his virtual goggles don’t do it justice. I’m nervous that my children will never want to actually experience life. They need to travel and interact with the world in real life, they shouldn’t be satisfied living in this virtual world.
