“The fact is no one can achieve success by themselves. They say successful people read that's a fact and they learn from others that's another fact, but life comes with one manual. The learned behaviors and the people who are in our circle are our instructors. “Frances Hammond
When I was a child cartoons were something I would look forward to every Saturday morning. Today the new generation has no idea who characters like Tom and Jerry, Popeye the Sailor, Betty Bop, Top Cat, Magilla Gorilla, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and of course Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Road Runner, and Willy Coyote. After completing my chores, I went outside and played with my friends. We would jump rope, roller skate, bike ride, hopscotch, Hide and Seek, Red Light Green, stick ball, Handball, Jack’s so many games I can't name them all. What I can say is that they were great memories.
On the days when the weather was bad and in the winter months it was the board games. I didn't always need friends to play with because my mother was always willing to play with me. I remember playing Scrabble with my mom, it helped me to learn unfamiliar words and build a better vocabulary. Then we played Monopoly where I was always losing because I was too cheap to buy property. I realized later that owning property was how the rich lived. You pay their mortgage when you land on the other players’ property and don’t let them build houses and hotels because you will be paying double and triple.
I can honestly say as an only child l learned to play by myself with my imaginary friend. I don't know if that's an only child thing, but it stimulates the child's brain to use their creativity. The new generation of parents today no longer interact with other children but prefer to hand them a tablet and phone and that's their friends. It's interesting to see how impressed the parents are when they see how well their children can use technology but forget what they taught them. Has technology and social media become the new way to create social skills? Crazy they and are they interacting with other children (if they are really children) and playing games with complete strangers.
First why do parents think it's acceptable to have children constantly using technology daily? Secondly, what is the continuous usage doing to children and adolescents physically, mentally, and socially? I wonder what effect it has on their eyes. I use a computer daily and from daily use my eyesight has changed to where I now wear progressive glasses. Mentally I personally can get so absorbed as to what I read online the I too can become disconnected with what is false and what's not. Every now and again I must pause and take time to regroup, unwind and read a book. By taking breaks I can work on my podcast and blogs and be creative. As an adult my social skills diminished even when I was out with friends and family because my curiosity had me consumed with the world of social media, now that's phatic. If this is what I was dealing with just imagine the children and adolescents.
Social detachment from reality may be a contributing factor to the rise in mental health issues. It's time that we all took a break from social media and went back to a time when we used our minds to be creative. Use our time to rebuild our social skills and work on mental health issues.
For the parents who think about giving their children technology because it will keep them quiet and occupied that’s a danger. As your children retreat to the rooms for solitude do you know what's going on behind the closed doors? You know the term cut the cord well is time to cut the technology. What you have read is my opinion about technology from seeing today’s youth and their social skills.
