It seems to me that people are all caught up with their technology, and I wonder if they are really present in their own lives any more. Gone are the days when you drove to or from work and either prepared yourself mentally for your day or wound down from the events at the office and looked forward to your evening at home. It seems people are either talking or texting with their cell phones while driving and I wonder what the long-term effects, if any, there are going to be.
Will people end up less relaxed? Unable to truly enjoy silences or park their bums on the couch for an extended afternoon of movies, classic TV or a handheld book and cup of tea? I think people are already showing signs of being more stressed than not. Most people I know are always tired. I don’t remember people always being tired when I was in my 20s and 30s.
I was wondering if taking pictures or videos at get-togethers lessens the enjoyment of the actual event. Looking for that great shot and hoping to get the best moments might be removing us from participating.
Because I live so far from my daughters and their families, I love that I get to see so many pictures of their days, movies from their special events and even being able to see them in real time on the computer. Living hundreds of miles away and still feeling involved as a mom and grandmother is a real gift that my mother did not get to take advantage of just several short years ago and it must have been abysmal for her mother when she moved to a completely different country, way back when air travel was not in most people’s budgets, never mind the price and quality of overseas calls in that era.
By posting pictures and videos on places like Facebook, you get a wider group of people able to enjoy the moments you’ve digitally caught and they post feedback and similar stories—I think we might actually be able to enjoy those events even more, being able to relive more of the best moments more often. Different moments stand out to different people and we might be getting more of the actual event with the addition of the digital version.
My granddaughters are 4 and 2 years old. Saying “cheese” for pictures is an integral part of their everyday life. I wonder what they think of saying that word and smiling for the camera as compared to eating cheese, which they both love doing and likely happens daily as well. I think I’m going to have to ask them what cheese means and see what those two brilliant, clear-thinking, unabashed girls have to say.
It sure is easier nowadays to go on a long trip with young children, what with the portable DVD players, hand-held games and more available to entertain them. Are they going to be able to entertain themselves when they are alone? Will they be missing out on using their imaginations? I used to think that maybe it would be detrimental; now I’m not so sure.
One definite improvement: I haven’t heard of today’s kids ever saying, “Are we there yet?”
You bring up a number of interesting points, certainly thought worthy, perlexing, and difficult to address with any degree of certainty. Hence, the problem.
ReplyDeleteI say technology be damned when I see people so deeply immersed in communicating through their ipods, blackberries, and cell phones. It makes me crazy, and I wish sometimes that we didn't have thumbs! It brings on an irrational urge to scream in their faces while stomping to death those nasty little hand held boxes that seem to have taken over our sanity, as well as having flushed our manners down the toilet. They have removed all sense of responsibility when it comes to what comes out of our mouths - it's all become so impersonal and devoid of emotional involvement. You're absolutely correct when you observe that we've likely lost the ability to truly relax, enjoy silence, and the prospect of actually spending an hour or an evening in our own company is probably horrifying to many who are so at home with today's technology.
As for the advantages vs. the disadvantages of electronic entertainment when it comes to making family trips easier, I'm slightly on the fence. I can't help but think that while it makes it easier for the parents, the kids may be getting the short straw here. While DVD's and hand held games certainly keep kids quieter, they absolve the parents of having to communicate with the kids. I would surely have missed singing songs, learning to harmonize with my mom and sister, and playing roadtrip games like naming the states or their capitols. Those were great memories. What will these kids have? Memories of Mario? Does anyone just sit and read a book anymore?
I like your thumbs idea - nice way to put it. Except I won't give mine up willingly! I agree about all the games and interaction in a fun way with our parents but I don't see my granddaughters missing out on that interaction at all, even though they have many of the gadgets at 2 and 4 years old. Watching it all in their family's setting made me realize that ultimately it's up to the parents, same as TV was for me as a parent: I could let it babysit my kids all the time or I could watch shows with them and share the fun or turn it off when it's time to play board games, read books, do chores, homework or whatever. My daughter and son-in-law take the girls outside just about every day to play, at the park, in the pool, wherever. And the 2-year-old is just as proficient at working her mom's iPod as the 4-year-old (I'm planning on having them show me next time I'm there!)
ReplyDeleteI do have a problem with people talking on their cells in any setting, not caring what they say in front of who. But I find it's abused more prevalently in certain public places rather than others. And not as much as it used to be. Maybe people are starting to take back their privacy, at least regarding talking in public on their cells. I hope it's true. Everything seems to come down to the same concept, personal responsibility. Being the finest version of yourself you can be. So simple, being mindful. Mindful has been my favorite word for the past four years. Thanks, owlcat, for chiming in. I especially get that urge to scream in people's faces. Hard to refrain some days!
good observation on the "parent's responsibility" aspect - your daughter is obviously handling the balancing act beautifully, and I imagine that it's by the example you provided. Maybe my actual problem with all the technology today is that so often parents hide behind it, rather than interacting with their kids. Kids today seem to be so involved in extra-curricular activities that they have no down time, no private moments, and don't seem to have the ability to entertain themselves or spend time alone without "something to do". I see so many parents who have their kids enrolled in one activity after another, dance lessons, music lessons, gymnastics, soccer, etc. When school is out, they're rushed from one place to another and then it's time for bed. Or, kids spend the whole evening on their game boxes or in front of the TV. I guess I'm back to my original question - does anyone just sit and read a book anymore? OK, you can keep your thumbs, and I'll keep mine, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for RJ to weigh in on this one. At Kelly's police academy graduation, I heard him say something like, "... there I go again missing the actual moment because I'm trying to capture it on film...." That stuck with me. You were behind all of our family videos, Dad.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my generation is totally self-involved, entirely narcissistic, and generally sucky. I blame the bulk of it on modern technology.
ReplyDeleteowlcat: the over-enrollment in activities absolutely scares me to death. I can't see how anybody actually wants to run from one to the other; I really treasure my down time!
ReplyDeleteBeezra: That is amazing that your Dad said that exact thing - it's what I thought when my oldest daughter, kind, kind woman that she is, was going to videotape 80's birthday party and put it on a DVD for me to enjoy since I didn't get there this year. I didn't want her to miss it by videotaping it; I know I feel that way when I'm searching for the best candid shots, etc. But she said she was doing it for herself anyway.
And when blaming modern technology, I wonder what people said when toilet paper was invented - "What, you expect me to pay to wipe my bum? Next thing, we're going to see indoor plumbing; what a waste that will be."