Twitter.
Instagram.
Snapchat.
Messenger.
Just some of the things that give me grief on a daily basis. The Internet and digital technology is a wonderful thing, but one has to wonder if it is destroying an element of our human nature.
Young people regularly come to me with screenshots on their iPhone 6, of conversations or insults over social media or text, or content that offends them. Unfortunately the digital revolution is not something I can protect young people from, the nature of the beast is that it is just too big. All I can do is educate and support young people, making sure that they use the Internet carefully, only post content that is befitting with their personal brand, and showing them how o report and set privacy settings. As a CEOP ambassador, I am particularly passionate about ensuring that young people stay safe online. I've trained young people, parents, teachers, youth worker, social workers, and police in some of the issues facing young people with digital technology today.
The biggest issue, however, is one that no amount of training can solve.
Many young people find it hard to believe that our home computer was connected to the Internet by a wire, and that we had to dial up to get a connection. They struggle to appreciate that I didn't have a mobile phone as a child, and only had one when I was about 15; even then it was one of these bad boys:
I grew up in an interesting time, a cross over period between the digital era and Jurassic world (as my young people would have me beleive!). My mothers generation didn't have computers like I did, they didn't have access to the Internet, and they certainly didn't have mobile phones. Today we have children as young as 4 with tablet computers, the ability to access the Internet almost anywhere from a device as small as your hand, and 11year olds rocking an iPhone 6. When I was their age (goodness I sound old!), we were still scared of technology - we were waiting for the millennium bug to hit and crash the world, we were wary of mobile phones causing tumours, and my biggest issue as tripping on the cable that connected the computer to the phone line.
Now don't get me wrong, I think digital technology is a wonderful thing and has its place. But what have we sacrificed for this?
When I was 4, I loved playing with my big brother. In fact, until we were at secondary school, we used to spend all our time together - building dens, going to the park, playing in the garden. We went on day trips to the arboretum, or to a museum or swimming. We wrote diaries in the summer holidays, we played board games, and took it in turns to play Tetris on the retro yellow game boy. What do children this age get up to now, we'll probably so,e of the same stuff. But I have witnessed whole rooms of families sat in silence, each one on their own digital device. Tablets, iPads, laptops, phones. Children engrossed in playing games on a digital platform, and missing whole days of adventure with their friends.
When we were kids, if we wanted to see our friends, we had to "call on them". A quirky phrase now, but back then in the 90s and early 00s, we used to knock the doors of our friends and go around to see if they were in. I remember once trying to use walkie talkies with our friends over the road, but it was short lived as even they weren't great back then. But the premise of having to go and have a conversation in person with someone is something we seem to have lost - when it's so easy to just send a text now.
What worries me, is the impact that these devices have on child development, and how that unfolds into adult life. Indeed, how has technology killed relationships?
If good child development includes spending time and creative playing with peers, and increasingly children are interacting from behind a tablet, are they being deprived of social relationships and is it stunting their potential to grow. Are we breeding a nation of computer scientists, and losing our youth workers, our social workers, our "people people". When these jobs are dependant so heavily on positive relationships and being able to connect with people, if these skills aren't being maximised by current young people in a face to face environment, will we move to a totally digital age - online youth work as opposed to one to one sessions? Text counselling rather than face to face therapy?
How does this pan out for the survival of the human race?
One of my friends whom I see once a year, for one weekend, always has a pop at me for using my phone on camp. He insists that I "live in the moment" and tries to lock my phone away, or set rules that I can only use it a certain amount of times. I always protest, making excuses that "my love life depends on it" or "I need to get in my emails". When did I become so dependant on this device to rule my world? He is right, of course. We should be living in the real world and not the online world. When you have a beautiful girl in front of you, that is not the time to be scrolling through Facebook. When you're out with your friends, put the phone away and be with them. When you're taking a walk, breathe it all in and take in the sights and sounds - not the sight of your backlit phone and the sound of the ringtone! It is one of my pet hates when you're with someone and their phone is the most important thing in the room.
What would happen if I didn't use it? Would I have to go back to "calling on someone", on the off chance they would be home? Without the Internet, would I rely on books and newspapers to update me - have I become lazy in my thirst for knowledge? As a child, I loved to read, and it's no secret now that I hate it. But is that my laziness, that rather then read a book I can find whatever I want at the touch of my fingertips?
My obsessive checking of Facebook and Twitter, wastes ridiculous amounts of my time and achieves nothing except to pry into people's lives and make assumptions based on the information presented to me. I have become lazy in maintaining relationships! I should just call my friends, or go and visit them. Not depend on an app to tell me what is going on in their lives, and then "like" something to show my support. That's not support, that's a cheats way of being a friend. I waste my time getting het up when people post things that worry me, or upset me. When actually, I should just speak to them. But how much of my ability to have a face to face relationship is diminished due to my reliance on technology to do it for me?
So, I make an urgent plea.
Let's save the human race, let's build relationships on trust and honesty. Let's hold each other. Let's get our kids to play games, learn to be outdoors, and learn to be with others. Limit their time (and yours as a role model) with digital media and let's ensure they build personal skills. Talking to each other, laughing with each other.
Put that phone down.
No comments:
Post a Comment