What is about today and this extreme need for technology? I remember the simple joys of playing outdoors, the relaxing tendencies of coloring in my books and that special time a day where you got to play Super Nintendo after doing your homework. Today, you take a stroll through your neighborhood and are lucky if you see one child even peep it's head out of the window. Now, don't get me wrong. I love video games and adore the internet but not to the extent where I could sit indoors for hours and lose track of the day. Yes, there is a need for a lot of the technology out there but think about what its doing to us and the effect its going to have on our kids. Hello? Has anyone see Wall-E? If you haven't please stop reading this right now and go watch it. It'll prove my point. This constant need for a new phone, faster speeds, bigger screens...its causes more waste and less activeness. Doesn't it tell you something when a child knows how to use the computer when he doesn't even know the alphabet yet? Shouldn't the fact that we are buying teenagers $300-$400 cellphones so they could text their friends who they see all day at school raise a red flag? I had a beeper in high school. A beeper. And guess what? When I lost that, it was the end. I never would've dared ask my mom for another one. I would've gotten my teeth slapped out.
There is no value in things anymore. It's always new, better, bigger, faster. So it is any surprise that kids are never satisfied with what they have? Is it really that mind boggling that they keep demanding newer and better things regardless of the price? Everywhere you go people are so busy connecting themselves on whatever network they are on that they are disconnecting from the actual world around them. No one makes contact anymore. No one bothers to look ahead of them. The world around us is moot. We are so concerned about what Annie Bitches A Lot is up to today on Facebook today yet the person next to us who is dying from cancer is of no concern or even worthy of a small hello. Again, yes technology helps us do a great many things but when you're talking about a person almost running you over with their car because they are too busy texting, the argument sort of changes.
My son is a year old and every time he sees my phone he goes bananas because he knows that there is a Snoopy video stored inside. This, people, is not normal for a toddler. There are apps to keep your kid busy, apps to help them sleep and apps to even teach them but shouldn't we be doing this? I've fallen victim to this, I admit, but that doesn't mean I can't see that its wrong. Already I'm telling him "Rely on technology. Don't do anything for yourself." A child watching TV all day is not going to be any smarter. I don't care how "educational" the program says it is. A child should be playing and exploring; they should be creating and expressing themselves. TVs, computers, tablets, phones...they don't teach your child anything but how to be lazy. Like everything in life these things are fine in moderation. An hour of video games is fine. Browsing the internet and doing homework on the computer, more than acceptable. Now, a 9 year old with a phone and/or laptop? That seems like a big no-no to me.
There are so many wonderful things out there to do and see and we are missing out because we are either glued to a TV screen, a phone or a computer. Indulging every once in a while is not a bad thing. I mean, this is the modern world. We should enjoy the luxuries that we invent and crave but we shouldn't let them take over our lives. To continue being smarter, faster and generally competent we need to step back from the everyday things we collect to help life be better for us. In reality, its not helping. It's only slowing us down; reverting evolution. Think with your brains, not with your smart phone. Don't assume we want to know what you had for lunch. And, please, for the love of all things good, entertain and teach your children themselves. Mickey Mouse and Kid Piano can only go so far.
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