Recently the family and I were heading into a restaurant and another family with 2 teenagers were walking in at the same time. The mother turns to her teenager and says, "Please, put the phone away and talk to us." The teenager never looked up. In Walmart a few days ago I saw a child, that looked no more than 5 or 6, being led down the aisles because she was playing her DS and couldn't seem to bother looking up to watch where she was going. Both situations caused me to chuckle at the time and be saddened afterwards. One child with a parent begging for their time and one child literally being led through life. The excess of electronics for this generation is frightening in its consequences.
We are by no means anti-tech at this house. There is every gadget known to man in every room. I understand that without my iphone my life just would not be the same. However would I sit in Starbucks and reload my gold card without my miraculous phone? But I pray that I am teaching my children that there is a time and place for these things. I love the conversations we have at family dinners out because the excessive gaming and texting is not allowed. I find out valuable pieces of information during these conversations. My kids aren't allowed to bring gaming devices into Walmart because I want them to learn something while we're there. The value of a dollar, what kind of detergent works best, and what is good for you and what is not, can all be learned there. I don't want to send my kids out into the world only knowing how to beat Mario Kart. I absolutely think there are good uses for technology (calling when you are going to be late) but I think some limits need to be placed to avoid excessive technology that causes us all to loose touch with each other. What will you ask your kids to put away today?
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