Growing up, I’d come home from school in the afternoon and watch 30 minutes of Cartoon Network with a snack my mom had prepared for me. Afterwards, I’d go to my room or sit at the counter in the kitchen and complete my homework for the night. Usually after homework, as I can remember, instead of sitting myself down in front of the TV again or some gaming system, I’d run up to my room and bury my nose in a book.

Nowadays, this isn’t the case. And while yes, there are still some kids just like how I was in grade school, a new era of childhood has taken over. TV, iPods, iPads, and gaming stations are the newest form of entertainment. Kids can’t go a day without interacting with some piece of technology.

Yes, this is the new times we live in, but it’s also come down to how our children are being raised.

Today I sit in malls and stores and watch as parents shove their kids in front of screens upon screens to entertain their children. A little technology here and there is fine, don’t think I’m against this new revolution. But, when has parenting become something that just involves sticking your child in front of a screen for hours to entertain them?

We wonder why our children are being exposed to more obscene and mature content earlier and earlier, and I think the biggest factor is because we allow our children to spend these countless hours on these devices. There’s no limit to what they can find, and what they can do on these devices. It’s hard to restrict and manage that.

I never had the luxury of technology growing up. My family car rides to New Hampshire to visit family was a 16-hour adventure, and the only piece of technology I had was a coloring book and a movie player that strapped onto the back of the driver’s seat and was about the size of a brick.

Now kids will sit for hours and hours on phones and tablets, frying away their brain cells. And there are many educational values to technology; learning apps and kid’s games can teach and strengthen some kids learning, but there’s nothing like reading a book that can enrich a child’s mind.

We all know this, but we still choose to ignore it. So, my question is, where have all the books gone?

If we know reading allows the mind to transform and learn things that other parts of schooling and technology can’t teach, why have we allowed our kids to sit in front of these screens instead of encouraging them to read?

There are so many genres of books out there that could interest any child. There’s truly a book for everyone. We need to begin encouraging reading again and restrict the amount of time we are allowing our children to spend on technology. Instead of handing a tablet to your kids, hand them a book or better yet, actually parent them by engaging with them and playing with them. Buy them toys that will make them engage their creativity, not sit mindlessly pressing buttons on a controller.

Technology is a great addition to our society. It has allowed for amazing new inventions and has revolutionized the way we as humans live. But every great thing comes with a price, and we cannot let that price be our children’s imaginations.