That's a bold statement, but I'm feeling like a loose cannon with my words this week, so buckle up.
I have to back up just a little, to put all this drama in context. I have a strong love-hate relationship with technology. Sometimes, technological advances make me feel awed by what they can accomplish. Sometimes, I rely on them to make my life easier and simpler. At the same time, I hate that technology is replacing human interaction in exponential proportions. Perhaps my ambiguity makes my argument ineffective; but I have lots of good examples:
When a learning management system makes it possible for me to individualize grammar instruction to 124 students, print reports on what they can and cannot do, then provide hours of personal practice to build their grammar skills, I LOVE technology. Technology is good.
When my kids cannot ride together in the car for 15 minutes without a Kindle or an iPod because they would rather die than actually speak to each other, I HATE technology. Technology is bad.
I'm trying to navigate this carefully. I recognize that technology is the future, and my kids need to have skills. But I also recognize that kids today are more comfortable snapping a photo to send to their friends with 140 characters of text than they are having a face-to-face conversation with them.
As a family, we have seen the desperate desire to play Minecraft supersede a sunny afternoon at a local playground. I have seen the vague zombie-like expressions on the faces of my children while they are watching television; I have stood right next to them and called their name - with zero reaction - and had to shut the television off to get them to pay attention to me.
So. We have tried to build boundaries at home - we have television during specified viewing hours, but we have no internet access. If they have a homework assignment that requires it, we head up to the school and do it in my classroom. On one hand, that is a gigantic pain in the butt - lots of driving and inconvenience. On the other hand, if they could access the internet at the house, I might never get them out of their rooms, so I'm willing to take the bullet on that one.
Largely, this is a losing battle I'm fighting, and I know it. The older they get, the more exposure they have, and the more I have to concede. I'm just hoping to build some human interaction, some quality family time, some interpersonal skills and values into their young lives before I lose them forever.
Then Verizon came out with their "It Matters" campaign. They have produced a neat little 30 second slot that threatens to bring down the entire structure I have been carefully cultivating. A surfer uses her phone to record her rides - my little wakeboarder thought that was pretty cool - "How much is a waterproof phone, Mom?"
Then the voiceover says "Would you be willing to give up sharing your moments?" I'm thinking, my gosh, I HOPE so! Is an activity worth doing only if we can immortalize it on YouTube for everyone to see?
Next, a skydiver records his jump so the world can live vicariously through him - my perceptive and timid middle child commented, "So that's what it looks like to go skydiving!" Which really means: she'll never try it because she's seen it already, and what would be the point?
And THEN. The all-American family is setting up their tent in a forest setting - surrounded by God's most beautiful creation - and they hook their phone up to a projector so they can watch a MOVIE on the INSIDE of their tent. The final shot is the glowing tent, with a backdrop of the night sky. Basically, they are watching STAR WARS surrounded by a billon ACTUAL stars, that the poor kids never get to SEE because they are watching a MOVIE for crying out loud! And my little man, who just recently got to see his first viewing of that classic film, was delighted. "Mom! You should get that projector for when we go camping this summer!"
Then the voiceover says "Would you be willing to give up sharing your moments?" I'm thinking, my gosh, I HOPE so! Is an activity worth doing only if we can immortalize it on YouTube for everyone to see?
Next, a skydiver records his jump so the world can live vicariously through him - my perceptive and timid middle child commented, "So that's what it looks like to go skydiving!" Which really means: she'll never try it because she's seen it already, and what would be the point?
And THEN. The all-American family is setting up their tent in a forest setting - surrounded by God's most beautiful creation - and they hook their phone up to a projector so they can watch a MOVIE on the INSIDE of their tent. The final shot is the glowing tent, with a backdrop of the night sky. Basically, they are watching STAR WARS surrounded by a billon ACTUAL stars, that the poor kids never get to SEE because they are watching a MOVIE for crying out loud! And my little man, who just recently got to see his first viewing of that classic film, was delighted. "Mom! You should get that projector for when we go camping this summer!"
Ummmm.....no. No. No, no, no, not even if my life depended on it.
Seriously, Verizon? SERIOUSLY?
P. S. My title today is also a shout-out to my very best high school friend, who spent roughly 80,000 hours with me learning all the words to that song and singing them at top volume in her Buick as we cruised around town together. Miss you, Karrie.
