The topic of technology and children has not always been a hot topic because, well...there hasn't always been technology. At least of the magnitude there is today. It has only been in the last 15 years or so that the debate about children and technology have come into play. I can understand why there is such a debate because in my opinion technology has changed the way things are done. For instance, I cannot walk down the street without seeing some teeny bopper on his/her telephone. Honestly, it drives me nuts. These kids can be no more than 12 and they have more gadgets and gizmos than I do. Am I the only one that thinks there is something wrong with that? They have no sense of real communicaiton with the public because everything they do is online and through Facebook, which is not a good thing. This will only create problems in their future because if they cannot communicate properly how can we expect them to make something of themselves?
If we are on the topic of children and technology I will bring to light something that I do not agree with. There seem to be continuous debates that surround the topic of children and violence distributed through technology. I can understand how some people may think this may cause some problems, but honestly it's just something that I cannot agree with. Sure, the violence on television and through XBox games are more available to the public than they were, perhaps 30 years ago, but let's face it...it's nothing to new to our culture. If I recall there was a movie called Psycho in the early 1960's, then of course there was The Shining in the early 80's and an earlier version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Violent movies and violence are nothing new on television, so I do not understand why people are making such a big deal of it now. Personally, I think they are trying to blame someone or something else other than themselves. "It can't possibly be my parenting skills. It's definitely the video games." Now, do I think there are some people that are just so screwed up in the head that no matter what has been said or taught it will do them no good? Yes, I do. The people that can go into a school and kill 16 innocent young children have a serious problem; it goes way beyond playing Halo on an XBox.
I am going to use my brother as an example. My brother is 15 years old. He has an XBox and a Playstation 2. His favorite game is Halo. Guess what folks...he is perfectly normal. He doesn't draw creepy pictures or make obscene statements. He is also a huge outdoorsman. One of his favorite outdoor activities is hunting. Throughout the months of October-January and March-April you will hardly see that boy without his .243. I am mentioning all of this because he enjoys doing the things that people say increase violence in young people.
I do think that children and technology is a problem, but not because of the violence issue. I would like to say it will not stay this way forever, but that is not the case. There will be more inventions and more hand held gadgets that everyone must have and the children that have access to these will become younger and younger. It is a problem when you look to your right and see a five year old playing with an IPhone. Honestly, what five-year old needs an IPhone? There isn't a single child that is of that age that needs one. What this is doing to the younger generation is teaching them that they do not have to communicate face-to-face. The other night at a restaurant I witnessed an older gentleman with his three grandchildren; two of them were boys and looked to be around 13 years old. They were not paying him any attention and just sat there in the booth playing on their phones. Unfortunately, this is a trend in today's society and the only people that can stop it are the parents. It all comes back to the parents, doesn't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment