When comparing the past times of children of today with those of yesterday, it can be said that the past definitely leads to the future. Long gone are the days of the pen pals of yore, today's electronic mail has changed this activity forever. Campfire stories have been replaced by video cassette recorders, books on tape, Playdoh put away for Sony Playstation; these are merely a few of the differences between generations of children.
             Long ago, society at large was not as sophisticated as compared with today. In the past, a kid was forced to use his or her imagination in many more situations. A hub cap from a 56' Chevy became an unidentified flying object deep from outer space, landing here on Earth in an futile attempt to conquer. Today all that is needed are a couple of hundred dollars for a video game system, a television and a power outlet, to watch this situation unfold right before the eyes.
             Movies are activities enjoyed both by children of yore as well as kids of today. The difference lies in the scale of the motion pictures themselves. Children of the past sat in dark theaters watching the cowboy in the white hat battle and prevail over the cowboys dressed in black. Also in this theater children sat and watched a marooned and heroic Flash Gordon clash with the evil Ming the Merciless, fighting for all that was good in the Universe. By contrast, not much is left to the imagination watching the technologically advanced films of modern day cinema. Kids today watch convincingly as prehistoric dinosaurs run loose down the streets of any neighborhood USA. The kids of today stare agape as aliens attack the Earth, destroy its nations and wage the ultimate battle for the extinction of all mankind. These advances in the film industry itself have helped to distinguish, as well as reflect, the differences between today's world and that of the past.
             In a bygone era, kids would gather around the family radi...