“This media we call social is anything but, when we open our computers and it’s our doors we shut.” Look Up is made for the “connected” generation. Written, performed and directed by Gary Turk, this video holds an amazing life lesson. Kids today are growing up in a world where they would rather play on their smartphone than communicate with real human beings. Want to change it? Please share this video with everyone you know.
http://sharepowered.com/this-is-a-video-everyone-needs-to-see-it-will-make-you-speechless/
When I grew up it was a "Game Boy" that I held in my hand to escape from "reality." When my dad was a kid it was a comic book that was a common escape for kids. I think the most disturbing trend is not that kids are using social media so prevalently, but that their parents are. I know 50 year old women that spend huge amounts of time on Facebook talking about trivial things with people they barely know. I have often thought that the people on Hubski that I have discussions with regularly know me far better than many friends I have had for years. Why? Because we discuss politics, religion, art, music, the human condition etc. -This is far more valuable to creating and maintaining a "friendship" than "liking" a photo of someone's kid. I liken the experience here as being akin to writing letters to friends. Prior to the telephone, the written letter was what would connect friends. I like to think that Hubski can provide a similar service in the fostering of relationships based on the exchanging of ideas. There's no doubt that many kids spend too much time disengaged from the moment in front of them, but really are the adults these days much better? So much of life is where you spend your time and who you spend it with. Online is no different. While I think it's right to ensure that our children have good interpersonal skills both on and offline, I think it's wrong to paint all interactions on a smartphone as potentially dangerous. That said, you are right that it's a topic that is certainly something we should think about. Good to see you hootsbox.
I work at a bar that has no TV's. Some people hate it. Many other people spend their drinking time getting to know their friends in neighbors in a way they never would have if ESPN had grabbed all their attention. No TV's drastically changes a bars culture in pro-social way that I enjoy. I think that if my time tending bar was mostly people looking slack jawed at the TV over my shoulder instead of chatting, joking and debating all present I'd like my job a lot less.
To which I counter with this article: http://www.wired.com/2013/12/ap_thompson-2/
Yes, parents can be too "self-involved" and "work focused" at times. I would advocate letting teens "hang out" together in, hopefully, positive venues. I also would advocate parents taking more time to plan and take family trips and stuff that builds good memories. I cannot lay the blame totally on the parents though; that is a cop out! I had lots of times to "hang out" with my peers when I was a teen, and not all of that was "healthy" - I got into some troubling arenas. But the original post goes wells beyond the "teen" group, and the comments by thenewgreen can be true of the "older crowd" as well.
Thanks for that article. I've been a proponent of that idea for a while, just didn't have the data to back it up. Your average American teen (I'm only 22 and I see a shift from my high school days) is so closely monitored and tightly caged (Curfews, stranger danger, gas prices) that without the ability to reach out to their friends digitally they would be a 'generation' (Using the term loosely) of hermits!