Worse Than TV

I know. How much longer can I ramble on about the topic of life in the digital age? I am almost done, really, but here is one last gripe regarding an article that was in the Daily Local News last year. The article is titled "Texting, Facebook, Worse Than TV?" and it examines the difference between this generation of teenagers compared to their parents and whether or not all the screen time is worse or just different than what it used to be. The article claims that not much has changed other than it used to be TV time, and now it's TV, Texting, and Facebook all at once. The headline intrigued me and as I read on there was a statement that really caught my attention,

"Sure, there are real dangers associated with all this screen time — everything from cyber bullying to couch-potato obesity. Not to mention driving while texting, shortened attention spans and Internet porn. But many of today's parents spent hours as kids sitting in front of screens too — only they were TV screens."

Okay, let's back up a second. Key words; cybulling, obesity, texting while driving, all of which can potentially be FATAL. Attention deficit problems and pornography aren't exactly light weight issues either! I was appauled at how they had these things listed like they are about as damaging as wearing flip flops! Or mindless reruns of "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch" to be exact.

At the end of the article the bottom line is "Never mind that your kid is spending two hours on Facebook each night. As long as they do their homework without texting in between math problems, it's probably no better or worse than the hours you spent watching Star Trek." Really, that is the last sentence, following the words "Bottom line".

I don't want to make it sound like I am anti technological or social changes and advancements. Have you seen this picture of my family?

This photo actually needs to be updated, because now all 8 of us each have our very own mac and iphone.

Or, remember when I posted this video of my son talking about angry birds?

Or have I mentioned that I have a blog? So, yeah, I am all about the screens.

My issue was how flippant the article was about something very serious. For me this article was a reminder of how we need to be aware for ourselves and our children that the key words mentioned above are real and so is the reliance and addiction that can come from being oversaturated in screen time. That is why I focused on this topic this week. That is why I feel a little responsibility to ramble.