I don't know what to think when I hear of children being so dependant on technology that they shut down completely outside of a plugged-in world. To me it sounds like a combination of bad parenting, disgusting amounts of media overload, the vacuum of television, and the toxin of the idea of entertainment. Many people would disagree with my thoughts here, but this is how I see the idea presented.
I can't imagine children like this, nor parents. For a very good portion of my life I was very connected to the outdoors. Every summer I would live for a week if not two disconnected from my cellphone, my computer, or anything with a two-pronged plug or batteries for that matter. Camp is a beautiful thing. On those mountains and over that lake I and other children like me had zero trouble moving away from our televisions and what have you to swim in the lake, hike in the forest, or just go down to the trading post to see if that new knife was in yet so we could brag about it every time we needed to cut a rope (which came up at least once per hour at camp).
To imagine a generation after mine that does not have the luxury like I and my friends had to disconnect and unplug scares the living daylights out of me to be honest. Even now I see eight-year-olds that are more attached their cell phones than I am. I realize the harsh difference in reactions between I and someone four years younger if our cell phone would break or stop working. For me, it would be a slight inconvenience, yet a nice means to an end of peace and quiet, but for them, it would be a devastating loss that would need to be fixed within hours to prevent permanent trauma.
I don't know what we can do for the next generation, but after this reading, I am open for ideas. This, however, does not speak for adults with the same problem. I have a sister, age 29, who has a child of her own and a husband to go with it. They have a nice house, a nice car, and are set up the way any successful starting family would be in an ideal world. I wonder, however, what it would be like if their lives were suddenly unplugged.
Now, I have some experience being unplugged recently. I went without a laptop for two entire weeks in college. I only got on the internet twice in that period of time, once to email a paper to a proffessor that I wrote in the library, and the other to check daily things like my facebook that I barely use, and some of my political Youtube Subscriptions. I can't imagine the reaction of other people around my age if they would go through the same thing. What would my sister do if she couldn't watch her movies or listen to her music? What would my brother in law do without his laptop? I don't have answers to these questions.
It scares me to think of the glue that seems to surround the outer layer of our plug into the technological world. What about you?
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12 years ago
I agree. I think that everyone relies completely on technology. I also feel like the younger generations have been raised in a society where it is necessary to have these objects, and use them frequently. I think I was 16 when I got my first cell phone (a track phone) because I started to drive. Now, I see 6 year old walking around with a cell phone in their hand. I guess it is weird to me because when we were that young this was not typical, but I guess this is what the world has become!
ReplyDeleteI agree. There is a big difference in people just a few years younger than us. They seem even more dependant on technology than us. I am the same way...losing my laptop or cell phone would be an inconvenience for a while but not the end of the world. Its scary to think that like the family in the book people can become so detached from nature. Thats probably an extreme case there, but I imagine there are families out there coming closer to that state. Its sad when people can't go just a week without tv and computers in the wilderness.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people rely way too much on technology. It is now a part of everyone's daily routine and we cannot go without it for too long because if we are in school or at a job we will need our computers and cell phones for writing papers and doing work. I do feel that we take advantage of what we have because we use our phones to text every day and we check our facebooks and we don't know how it is to not have this technology.
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