I WOULD BITE HER TOO!

In today’s newspaper was an article that caught my attention. The title was: “Plugged-in parents may be alienating their own kids.” The article was from the New York Times; it began with the following incident:

“While waiting for an elevator at the … Mall near her home in Virginia recently, Janice Im, who works in early-childhood development, witnessed a troubling incident between a young boy and his mother.

“The boy, who… was about 2 ½ years old, made repeated attempts to talk to his mother, but she wouldn’t look up from her BlackBerry.

“He’s like, ‘Mama? Mama? Mama?’ And then he starts tapping her leg. And she goes, ‘Just wait a second. Just wait a second.’

“Finally, he was so frustrated, that “he goes, ‘Ahhhh!’ and tries to bite her leg.”

The article goes on to say that MIT has been studying how parental use of technology affects children and young adults. They found that feelings of hurt, jealousy and competition are widespread.

Near the end of the article the author took another tack: Parents who pay attention to their children, talking and explaining things to them, and responding to their questions “remain the bedrock of early childhood learning.” Parents who supply a language-rich environment for their children help them develop a wide vocabulary, and that helps them learn to read.

The question posed at the end of the article was whether the parents’ use of smartphones, (and other technologies that employ screens) etc. will be a detriment to their children’s intellectual development.

My reaction was: While the child’s intellectual development is a legitimate concern, I think the child’s “feelings of hurt, jealousy and competition” should be the deeper concern. The little boy becoming frustrated and trying to bite his mother, demonstrates that when this parent ignores her child’s repeated entreaties, the impact on the child is a profound psychological and emotional one. That is scarier than anything. And heart-breaking.

Another thought: the parent who is addicted to the various technologies may need “intervention” to get them back in touch with real life… and their most valuable possession—their child.

A Target Christmas catalog came in the mail this week. It was artfully done: colorful, and full of happy smiling children. It’s goal was to convince you that you could have a joyful Christmas only if you bought all this stuff guaranteed to produce joyful children (stuff available at Target, of course). Mostly that meant very expensive stuff. Mostly that meant electronic stuff. Electronic stuff that had, in every case, one solitary child interacting with an image on a TV screen.

I fear that too many parents, especially parents with little money, will despair (at least subliminally) of having happy children this Christmas because they can’t possibly afford to buy any of this stuff. They may even know that this catalog is a lie—that nothing in it can produce real happiness. Interacting with something electronic is an empty, ultimately unsatisfying endeavor. Loving interactions with other people, genuinely connecting with other people, serving others, seeking to make others happy—this produces real happiness.

I remember being a parent with little or no money for Christmas gifts. I remember overhearing my children say (about dozens of items), “I want THAT for Christmas!” as they watched yet another commercial on TV or looked at yet another printed ad. (Some scriptures come to mind: “their eyes are full of greediness.”) I felt like throwing the TV in the trash just to stop the “I want”s. It was making my children covetous and materialistic. And that guaranteed that they would be miserable on Christmas morning, and that they would think themselves deprived and cheated.

I don’t know at what age a person finally realizes that most “stuff” cannot guarantee happiness. Perhaps some people live their whole lives and never come to that realization. An old song from my parent’s era proclaimed that “the best things in life are free.” It was never a favorite of mine—crummy tune, bad poetry, saccharine sentiments. But, it seems to become truer all the time.

The moon belongs to everyone.
The best things in life are free.
The stars belong to everyone.
They gleam there for you and me.

The flowers in spring,
The robins that sing,
The sunbeams that shine,
They're yours, they're mine.

And love can come to everyone.
The best things in life are free.



My biggest fear is that we are all addicted to our electronic stuff and have lost touch with stuff that is real. And wholesome. And healing. And deeply satisfying. Anyone up for a walk in (or a dive into) the autumn leaves?

BTW... Are You OOTL Too?

I had to laugh when I saw this comic strip in today's newspaper. Not only does cartoonist Bruce Tinsley poke fun at the proliferation/plague of texting, he pokes fun at the proliferation/plague of abbreviations.

Dandelion, in her last blog used "RPG" and kindly explained what the abbreviation meant for us OOTL (Out of the Loop) sorts. I'm glad she explained, because RPG also stands for Rocket Propelled Grenade and Rebounds per game (basketball). I was relieved to know she wasn't involved with grenades! Picturing her playing basketball with the JAZZ was also disturbing!

I've been perplexed by the use of soooooo many abbreviations in the online things I read. Not long ago, I kept running up against "MSM." I could tell the article wasn't referring to methylsulfonylmethane--which was the only MSM I was familiar with. What else is MSM?

Mechanically Separated Meat.

Miami Sound Machine.

I resorted to Wikipedia to learn that the articles were referring to the "Main Stream Media."

Another recent puzzle for me was "AGW. " The context ruled out "Autonomous Guided Weapon" or "Armed Global Warfare." I correctly figured out that the GW part was global warming. But, what was the A? Anthropogenic. Who knew.


Thank goodness for Wikipedia. Otherwise I would be forever OOTL. LOL

Hello? There IS a REAL World Out There--Trust Me!

WARNING: TODAY'S TECHNOLOGIES MAY BE ADDICTIVE!

WARNING: USE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH--ESPECIALLY YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!

WARNING: TOO MUCH TIME WITH THESE TECHNOLOGIES MAY RESULT IN A DISCONNECT FROM REALITY!

Seriously. I don't want to offend anyone, but turn off the electronic devices already and go out and smell the fresh air, soak up some sunshine, look at the blue sky, the flowers, and into your loved ones' faces!!! The pseudo world you are living in online really does not care what you are doing every minute. Those silly and trivial quizes you compulsively take merely keep you from looking at yourself honestly (and how you are using your time). All you sad sad people who are glued to your devices are addicted. Turn them off NOW!

YOU CAN OVERCOME!!!

See you next week! LOL