TL;DR

I realized a couple things about writing long posts in G+. First, it isn't worth it. Second, a blog is better for gratuitous content. Third, a couple is usually two things; rarely ever three.

I have this epic long post about how boys and girls are lacking the ability to exercise their empathetic muscle. Boys had "My Buddy" and girls have dolls and stuffy's. Both of which are almost passé in current times. Everything is interaction via some sort of tool built for entertainment. I no longer see explorative play with relatable things.

Emotional roleplay is like practice being a functioning adult. As I say it, it seems silly. Most of my generation are still trying to figure out what being an adult actually means. I'm an Introvert with some social tendencies. This came from a lot of practice being social. Now-a-days, I feel like the tools that kids have used to develop that emotional maturity has changed with technology to the point where we need to adopt an alternative approach. I'll be damned if I knew what it was.

Personally, I go direct with my kids. I talk them through bad experiences and I find why they're angry and give them a chance to express it. It works with us, but outside of immediate family, it's hard to know how to relate. Because there are a lot of people aren't comfortable with that approach. This leads me to believe that there has to be alternative ways to learn to interact with others outside of the "tribe".

Toss them together in a private or public school? Sure!

What about Sports? They breed a competitive spirit against others and/or against yourself. But I don't... like competitive sports. :/

Gaming (video,board, rpg) seems to be a way to draw people together to interact. This could be through competition, cooperation, or a pure exploration (PvE). None of these really provide a way to explore the feelings of ourselves and others, though. (Although, a nice shooty game resolves all sorts of my own feels.)

Now... I'm at a point where I'm asking a question. How do we develop interpersonal skills and empathy without picking up the "aging tools" of yesteryear? How do we prepare our children--and ourselves--for interaction in the today's tech-laden world?

It's a social experiment, but it's because every generation has a different social landscape to overcome.