To the kids of today, I am sorry. As I sat in Disney World this past week, I was able to watch families from all over the country, and even the world, interact. I thoroughly enjoy people watching as it always leads to an interesting story or conversation. As I sat and people watched through the different parks, I was able to see a trend with almost every family no matter where they were from: the parents and even the kids were so absorbed in their phones and electronics that they weren't enjoying the fact that they were all in Disney together.
From the parents looking up wait times, sending emails or even being on Facebook to the kids playing on iPads, leapfrogs and even iPhones, they weren't paying attention to each other. Even my own family, as we were sitting in a park waiting for the next ride time, were all on our phones not talking to each other. From my parents checking emails and making work calls to my brother checking sports scores to me on social media, we were all so absorbed in our phones while sitting in Disney World that we weren't even talking to each other. At one point we had characters walk up behind us and they stood there for five minutes before any of us looked up from our phones to notice them. It was actually very embarrassing, but it taught us a valuable lesson: we were all too technologically absorbed to even notice our surroundings or the fact that we were on vacation. We were all so busy staying connected with others that we weren't staying connected with the people right in front of us.
So, to the kids of today, I am sorry. I am so sorry that the world today has become so technologically involved that we can't slow down to enjoy our time with each other even on vacation. I am sorry that our society is just handing kids electronics to pacify them instead of letting them cry and realize that they can't always have their way. I am so sorry that our world has become so fast paced and technologically advanced that we continue to stay too involved in our electronics and technology. I am by no means criticizing parents today or saying that families don't spend time together, but when a 2-year-old knows how to work an iPad just as well as an 18-year-old, we must stop and ask ourselves what we're teaching the kids of today.
At some point our society has to realize that while technology is a wonderful and powerful thing, it is also dangerous and can be potentially harmful if it is not used in the correct way. At some point we have to realize that we must teach kids the difference between using technology as a tool and using it as a distraction or they'll never learn. So, to the kids of today, I am sorry that we are still trying to figure out how to properly teach you to use technology because we ourselves are still trying to figure it out.
