Sometimes I feel like such an old grump, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it's only going to get worse over the next few years. I am old school, and probably always will be. I know, I know, technology is here to make our lives, easier, right? I guess. But I can just as quickly jot a note and carry that in my pocket as I can set up some kind of list on my phone and carry that around, then hope that it reminds me like it's supposed to. OR, I can just use my brain!
Pardon my soapbox for just a minute.
Part of what is wrong with this world is people having it way too easy. Technology has made things so easy for us that we are just too dumb for our own good. Maybe Natalie will ultimately be worse off for my lack of exposing her to every new technology on the block, or maybe she'll be the smartest kid on the planet? Don't get me wrong, because I love my iPhone, but come on Apple! Now we don't even have to actually use buttons on the phone? All we have to do is talk to it, and the phone does the work for us? Does this remind anybody else of WALL-E? I want to be the one still running around like a loon when the rest of society is being carted on floating chairs.
Ok.
So back to my point. As long as I'm around, Natalie will have books, and very, very limited contact with TV, computers, cell phones, iPads, iPods, and anything else weird and tech-y. I know that some day it will be inevitable, but why can't kids be kids?
Besides, she LOVES books:
Oh my dear, I don't think you are wrong at all.
ReplyDeleteI think people pay way too much attention to their screens. Look around while in a restaurant. People are so quick to pull out the phone at the dinner table. I've seen parents staring into their devices while totally ignoring their children, a spouse or each other, or the company they are with. Common courtesy flies right out the window.
Be it television, cell phone, computer, or reading device the epidemic of dependency on these gadgets is soaring. People can't turn them off. It's like an addiction.
Communication becomes hateful and bold because of the use of screens. Isn't it easier to really say what you're thinking as you type your message into a gadget? You can't see the emotional reaction the effect your words have on the face of the person you're communicating with. Some people forget how to use their social filter. Just look at the rising incidences of bullying on social media sites.
Studies are now being done about limiting the use of screen time for the good of families!
My fear is there will be an entire generation that doesn't know how to form IPRs. I think they are already beginning to suffer.
I feel like Andy Rooney! But seriously, slow down, turn off the gadgets, entertain face to face.
Don't feel like a grump b/c I am the same exact way! We don't let Jackson watch TV and I think he is a million times better off from it... he LOVES books, can entertain himself, finds creative games to play, etc. So, keep up the good fight!
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