Gone are the days of playing kickball and flying kites in the park on Saturday afternoons. Children in today's society would most likely prefer to stay indoors playing Guitar Hero on their Xbox or watch the latest episodes of their favorite TV show during their free time. Time for physical, imaginative play is slowly pushed aside as the years pass and space is made for empty, redundant television programs and video games. The essence of childhood play is gradually diminishing as today's society encourages the idea of ​​growing up as quickly as possible. By allowing children to indulge in television and video games as they please, we introduce the problem of childhood obesity as outdoor play and physical activities are no longer of great importance to today's children. Children should have limited time to watch television or play video games so that they learn the important benefits of outdoor and imaginative play, which ultimately results in a healthier lifestyle. In Marie Winn's article entitled "The End of Play", she addresses the topic of how children today seem to lose the sense of being children. Compared to children of previous generations, children in today's society have interests and occupations that parallel those of modern adults. (Winning 1). It seems that they are losing touch with their inner child and moving straight into adulthood. A couple of decades ago a child would have easily distinguished himself from an adult by his interests, but since then the television and video games have replaced the imaginative play that children once enjoyed (Winning 2). In Winn's article, a parent of two school-aged children mentions that... middle of paper... relationships must be modeled effectively.(Winn 29).The problems of losing the essence of being a child, encouraging obesity, and the inability to function socially have a common factor that binds them together. They are all negatively affected by the presence of television and video games. The regulation of television and video games has only recently been brought to attention, but is it too late to reverse the effects it is having on the current generation of children? Not much can be done to undo the indulgence society has allowed over the past twenty years, other than educate children and implement more restrictions on what is broadcast and marketed to their age group. Children are a fundamental element for society because, after all, they are the ones who will manage our future and generations to come..