(Editor's Notes by Christina Myer - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

I was talking with a friend the other day who was trying to put his finger on why his youngster was not thriving in an athletic pursuit, as he had as a kid. My friend talked about how, as a child, he was constantly practicing, seeking out others to play against — he was obsessed … and eventually his obsession turned into a talent that carried him far.

“I think that’s it,” he said. “He’s not OBSESSED … with anything.”

He’s not the first parent I’ve heard express concern that his or her child simply didn’t seem to have any interests, pursued curiosities or even obsessions.

It’s worrying. When I and many of my generation were children, life seemed nothing but a series of obsessions. Piano lessons, dance, basketball, horseback riding, singing … one goal or another seized us, and sometimes for years. Other minor obsessions (or, hyper-fixations, which is a term I’m only now learning) included volcanoes, Bigfoot, space, historical and scientific figures, maybe even the subject of a science or social studies project we had originally been pushed toward by a teacher but quickly embraced as our own.

That doesn’t seem to be happening for a lot of kids today.

Another person who was involved in the conversation suggested that perhaps it is because when we were young, well, sometimes there just wasn’t a lot else to do. Now kids who begin to feel boredom creep in reach for a video game, tablet or cell phone.

A National Review article from a few years back headlined “What are your child’s passions?” seems to back that up. It starts “Too many kids let screen time and homework crowd out real pursuits.”

Plenty of other articles and research summaries suggest parents and guardians may have to create situations in which a child is forced to find “something to do,” something to explore — maybe even an obsession.

Once that happens, though, the next step is to not squash it immediately. I am repeatedly reminded how fortunate I was to have the parents I did. And when my friend was talking about childhood obsessions, I flashed back to the year I decided I was going to grow up to be a primatologist along the lines of Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey. I was so interested that I chose the topic as an anthropology entry in that year’s social studies fair. Looking back, I’m guessing I yabbered about the great apes to an annoying degree, but no adult ever told me to hush. In fact, my dad simultaneously taught me about the topography of gorilla habitat in the Virunga Mountains and how to work with chicken wire and hobby store fiberglass to create a mini mountain.

Readers will note I did not become a primatologist. But I did become a professional question-asker. To some degree, I credit my parents’ (and some very good teachers’) willingness to indulge my obsessions. It makes me sad to think of children who might be missing out on that.

I know, I know, I sound about 100 years old; and “kids these days” will find their own way. Many of them are showing us that in some ways they are better than previous generations at being engaged in the drive toward a brighter future.

Still, I can’t help wondering what they might discover about themselves and the world if, just once in a while, they looked around and found “nothing to do.”

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com