(Written in 2016)

I’m very careful when I pour the kerosene into the lamp.  I don’t ever touch the ash mantles, because we have to wait until my uncle goes to town if we want more.  I made funnel out of an old lotion container, so I could save every drop of fuel.  After filling it, I like pumping the little knob to create enough pressure in the canister that it moves upward toward the mantles and soaks them in kerosene.  I am afraid of lighting them with a match, so I always ask my oldest cousin, or my youngest uncle, both just a few years older than I am, to light it.  Once it’s lit, though, our world brightens and the toothy smiles of my cousins and I can be seen from across the room.  It’s time to read. 

I have read every book on reloading bullets ever made, it seems.  My cousins fill their minds with MAD Magazines one of my uncles found the last time they were in town.  My aana reads her bible, again.  The younger kids read the Sears Catalogue wishing for the toys that never come.  I don’t know what I’m going to read yet, but I need to figure it out, because we don’t waste our fuel on thinking.  I grab the dictionary, I left off somewhere between synergy and syphilis, which was super gross, but still fun to read.  When it’s night time above the arctic circle, at our home without electricity, when all the wood has been chopped, all the fish has been put away, and all the sewing has been completed, we read.  For some of us, it’s a way to get away from this place.  For some of us, it’s a way to learn what an STD is.  For some of us, it’s just a way to pass time until tomorrow when the day starts over again, and we have to hekp feed 40 dogs, haul 30 gallons of water from the well, pick 5 gallons of berries, and put away more fish so we don’t starve this winter.  Every single night, we read.  Weather my grandparents or parents knew, they limited our media consumption to what was around us, what they thought was appropriate, and also what was available without electricity.

“When I was a child, I ran around with no socks and shoes on. I ran through fireweed, away from bumblebees, and picked wild onions. We stayed up late at night, bright in the midnight sun, running around the tundra playing Norwegian, kick the can, and more.”  (Lukin, M.)

 Growing up living that life is a testament to the person I’ve become, to the products I write, and the actions I do as an adult.  Every one of us who lived in that little one room house full time, or only during the spring, summer and fall read to pass the time.  We have college graduates, mayors, legislators, public servants, nurses, coaches, and more as a product of that little plywood house. 

The influences we have as a child, watching and learning from the actions around us, especially in the consumption of media, shape our decisions and paths as an adult.  Essentially living “off grid” as a child, I was exposed to simple media.  Books that my parents had, magazines that were found at garage sales, Sears and JC Penny Wish books, Archie comics, an AM Radio, a bible, and a dictionary and thesaurus.  This is culturally different than most Americans growing up in the 1980’s, when the invent of MTV came and told us, “Video killed the Radio star!”   While other kids ran around with increased access to technology, we ran around catching caribou, playing kick the can, and putting food away for winter.  The generation today has so much access to media every day of their lives that we, as adults, can’t even see the influences.  “The free, adventurous and unsupervised play outside the home that was a feature of many adults’ own childhoods is no longer a ‘normal’ part of may young children’s lived experience.”  (Browne, N.)  As Browne states, the change from unsupervised outside play to unsupervised use of technology is astounding. Parents, likely tired from increased pressure for two working parent households, don’t take the time to truly see what the internet means to children without a filter or a boundary. Kids simply don’t have the ability to limit themselves, and when parents don’t step in to set those limits, media becomes the default teacher. Children aren’t built to regulate themselves, and when adults don’t create healthy boundaries, technology fills the gap in ways we don’t fully understand yet.

The culture today for most Americans is one lead by social media, reality TV shows, and limiting your child’s imagination by giving them an iPad instead of crayons.  What kind of society are we building for ourselves if this is what we are giving our children?  Take a look at the current Presidential race.  We have a billionaire reality TV star as the Republican nominee, preying on the average American and trusting that social media will win this race.  We are allowing this race to shape not only our future, but our children’s characters.  As Hyatt says, “This is why we must be attentive to the input we consume.  It affects us in deep and profound ways.” (Hyatt, M.)

Gone are the days where we sit down and read to our kids at night, where we go to the library as a family, and light our kerosene lamps at night so everyone can relax and read.  New media and technology take over our everyday lives.  This is not the best thing.  Social media is shaping our children’s lives in ways we can not understand yet, because it is there is little research to show.  The number of children reading declines every year more new media is introduced.  “In 1984, 8% of 13-year-olds and 9% of 17-year-olds said they “never” or “hardly ever” read for pleasure. In 2014, that number had almost tripled, to 22% and 27%. Girls also tend to read more than boys, as 18% of boys say they read daily, while 30% of girls do.  The decline in reading for fun is most easily explained by technological advances (i.e., kids would rather text than read).” (Alter, C.)

As an adult, I know without a doubt, the books and media I was exposed to shaped the adult I have become.  I read over 150 books per year, and watch little to no television.  I listen to Radio Reader and Prarie Home Companion.  The comforts I felt as a child started with the lighting of a kerosene lamp and the choosing of something to read.  I still collect Archie Comics for camp.  We still have the same dictionary and thesaurus I read as a kid, the same family bible I read over and over again (as a punishment) as well as the shot reloading manuals and National Geographic magazines.  We no longer have the Sears catalogues, but the Kindle and it’s long battery life, do make it easier to enjoy thousands of books at my fingertips.  I know I can not always limit the new media that influences my four children, but I can limit their data capability, their internet usage at home, their television time, and the books they read.  I still believe that if you put trash into your mind, trash will come out of your mouth.  They, too, have read what I read at camp, now not a home, but a place of sanctuary for us to escape the fast paced world.  We still have no electricity, and still use the same kerosene lamps we had growing up.  Though I know new media will never go away, I do work hard to create a lasting relationship with books for my children.  Like my relationship with books, it’s here to stay.