Are we raising a generation of cave people? It would appear so. A recent article that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald raised this question. It calls it the ‘man cave.’ What is a ‘man cave?’ It is an updated, up market version of the shed – that place where in old sitcoms and cartoons and also in real life men want to get away from their wives.
Men like George Clooney and Tom Cruise apparently have a man cave. So apart from having replaced the old shed what is a man cave? It is a place that caters to the needs of a man – whether that includes room for the guitar, or model trains, or wet bar. Sometimes the man cave might be a converted garage.
But the thing is it’s not only men that have a man cave. It seems we are all getting in the act. The designs of many homes being built at present, have a parents’ retreat or even a kids’ retreat which is like a family room or sitting room which is close to or attached to the bedrooms.
Even if the house design doesn’t run to that extra room for the kids the introduction of computers and TVs in bedrooms means that children are more inclined to disappear to their room to play video games, to watch TV, to do homework or chat on the computer etc. How is that different to when we were young?
Back then the dining or kitchen table was the hub of the house. It was the place where you not only had meals together but you sat and did your homework or played board games or card games.
In those days, family life and being together as a family was paramount. It might mean gathering around the piano or pianola for a sing along. The lounge room was were we listened to radio as a family and then later watched TV as a family. I think architects and house builders and families today are missing out on a lot by raising people with a cave mentality.
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