week 9

Electronics are taking over the lives of my generation...the previous generations...and the ones growing up in the digital age currently! Babies, toddlers, pets, moms, grandpas--are all fluent across many types of devices. Although I don't have children of my own, I feel very bothered by the new norm of toddlers with iPads, phones, or tablets constantly playing games, YouTubing, or Netflixing. It's like parents don't want children to act like children anymore...they should be silenced with a device. I feel like this will impact their social skills & behaviors later on in life! When I used to see a child at a restaurant, their yelling or playing didn't bother me. I have grown up around plenty of children with varying degrees of behavior types! Now when I go out, the children are staring at screens! (When they allow the sound on, that's more annoying than a playing child.) Have we lost patience for teaching good behavior or have we accepted that it's good for their minds to be entertained continuously? It baffles me how they find videos on YouTube when they can't even read! I feel like the older kids have already been impacted by this explosion of digital means. My 15 year old cousin who used to be very outgoing, can hardly spend five minutes away from his phone. On car rides with no service, he can't even hold lengthy conversations! His messages to his friends aren't conversations...they're one word replies to NOTHING. They send 'ok' back and forth a few times, throw in 'yeah', and an occasional emoji. (I am not exaggerating one bit on this either.) Schools aren't even eliminating them from the classrooms! He's called me during class and the teacher didn't even know he was on the phone for 40 minutes. Parents seem to be lacking in encouraging to break free from the devices, educators are failing at keeping the kids focused on learning, and kids don't see any problem with being connected 24/7! We need change!