I LOVE technology. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a certified techno-nerd, scooping up the latest gadgets, video game systems, car stereos, and the fastest computers! The more buttons and touchscreens I have, the happier I am!
We live in a pretty cool world where information is just a few taps and swipes away. I’ve ordered pizza from my iPad while lounging on my back porch, bought a car from Illinois while sipping coffee at the breakfast table, and planned a Minions-themed birthday party for my son with a few clicks on Amazon. Free 2-day shipping - SCORE!
We’re blessed to have all these conveniences, and I can’t imagine going back to phone books, encyclopedias, and a world without GPS. Yuck.
Now, with all this gizmo-gushing aside, I want to explore something that my wife and I have noticed, and it breaks our hearts: the darker side of technology that’s ruining our relationships with our children.
A quick societal glance reveals a multitude of zombie parents staring at their smartphones while their kids desperately vie for their attention. Mouth-breathing with the occasional courtesy grunt, they’re looking at the world through a tiny screen rather than focusing on the joy in their kids’ faces. It’s an observation I’ve made at numerous locations. Below are a couple of examples:
We like to take our kids to a gym class at our local rec center. About 30 kids and their parents show up to burn off energy on trampolines, foam pits, and jungle gyms. Parents are encouraged to participate with their kids, helping them develop good physical habits. BUT, if you were to do a quick 360 of the gym, you’d see parents buried in their phones, ignoring their kids' pleas to come run around and play. No conversation, no laughter, no encouragement. Sad.
Another observation that has really stuck with me was a time we took our son to a frozen yogurt shop for a little treat. Every kid loves a trip out with mom and dad for some frozen sugary delight, right?! (Side note: the red velvet frozen yogurt is to die for - I highly recommend it.) Anyway, we gathered our treats and snagged a table near some other parents. While we tucked our phones away and focused on conversation, you guessed it—all the other tables around us had kids happily experiencing brain freeze while their parents were neck-down, updating statuses and scrolling through the Twitterverse. One little girl said “Mommy” about 15 times before Mom actually looked up to acknowledge her. It really hurt my heart to see these kids being ignored by their parents.
I don’t want to turn this blog post into a complain-fest; I just want parents to be aware of how we’re interacting with our kids. I’m afraid of the future and how this will affect them when they become adults. Will they have the proper skills to carry on conversations? Will they develop good physical habits and be able to excel in the workplace? I’m really beginning to wonder.
Take some time to think about the QUALITY time you’re spending with your kiddos. Some of this time you’ll never get back. Take an hour to focus on them, make conversation, and make eye contact for goodness’ sake. Tuck the technology away and be present, because if you don’t… I’ll be silently judging you from the corner of the ice cream shop.
Photography credit: Jeremy Padgett
