I am still absolutely appalled and disgusted by the video we watched in class on Tuesday. It interviewed three mid-teens on their technology/media usage habits. I know that this was an American study and that the film had some sort of bias, but I’m sure it’s not far off. I’m going to sound like my mother here, but I was rarely allowed to play videogames except on special occasions at my Aunt’s house, I didn’t get a cellphone until I was 17, I didn’t get a laptop until I was 18 and we were told to “Go play outside!” when we were bored. (And we walked uphill both ways to school, with no shoes in the middle of a blizzard in July…). Perhaps it was because I was the oldest of 4 children that these rules were strict. And they did become more lax as we all got older and technology started becoming more available and affordable.
However, I don’t believe for a second that just because technology is more available and more affordable that common sense and etiquette should be allowed to go out the window. I can not understand how those parents could sit there and say they didn’t see a problem with what their kids were doing. Although, I suppose some parents are as bad, if not worse, than their children. How can we expect children to know better when clearly their parents don’t? When a parent can’t put away their Blackberry or iPhone long enough to watch their child’s soccer game, they’re clearly showing their child where their priorities lie.
Technology can not be avoided in this lifetime. Common sense should not be avoided in this lifetime.
I AGREE! I cannot believe that there are kids out there that spend more time watching tv, scouring facebook and playing video games then they do at school or even sleeping!! That is crazy! As a child I had major limits on how much tv I was allowed to watch and what I was allowed to watch and computer time was timed! I hope that what we saw in the video was not the norm but was just a few families that have taken the ease of technology WAY TOO FAR!
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