Between the ages of 13 and 15, I read books, took walks to the park, and watched a fair amount of TV. Sometimes I talked to my friends on the phone, but it was only long enough to make plans to meet at the corner or in our usual place in the park or library. My recollections of being a teenager makes it hard to relate to my kids.
Let’s start with cell phones. The problem is not with my kids using the phones too much. I actually lucked out on that one. My kids use just a few minutes of cell phone time each month. Still, I had to increase my plan last month to add unlimited text. Apparently you pay for both ingoing and outgoing texts. While my kid barely sends 100 texts a month, half her minimum, there were more than enough incoming texts to put us over the limit. I keep telling my kids that it would be much cheaper to just pick up the phone and have the conversation, especially during free nights and weekends, but they believe that they would be wasting time on the telephone.
Their response to computers and internet access is also hard to understand. They would stay online 24-7 if we let them. I realize there are lots of games to play and opportunities to socialize, but curling up with a book is a lot more comforting than curling up with a laptop. They spend so much time interacting with their computers that it is impossible to get their full attention.
When I was a kid, I would try to get my parents to read books I thought were good, or to watch a funny re-run on TV. Now my kids want me to watch the character on the screen do a funny dance and to shop online. Meanwhile I used to spend all day every Saturday shopping with my mother.
I guess it could be worse though. My kids aren’t exactly cell phone crazy, scans of their computers reveal nothing dangerous, and they still want us to “come look”. I may not be able to relate, but the real difference is in technology, not the hearts of the children.
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