Today I saw a kid gliding past me on his hoverboard with his face glued to a smartphone, this really got me thinking about where we humans are heading and how long it will take before we become 90% cyborg and 10% vegetable?.
Nowadays you can tell how much time a kid gets to spend with their parents by how many toys and gadgets they have.
It seems parents these days are giving in way too easily to these multinational corporate machines that seem to have a never ending supply of devices that are deactivating our kid's brains and bodies. Is it because these parents are way too busy frantically slaving away trying to keep up with the never ending supply of bills, fines and game of thrones episodes, or is just because they have given in to the temptations of these new digital Nannies.
What will happen to Reality when Virtual reality takes over?.
It seems now there is no minimum age for when a kid should be introduced to these gizmos, don't get me wrong, I do think that kids need to learn about technology because if they don't they will get left behind in a big way when this planet becomes one giant computer, but does it really have happen so early and occupy such a huge part of their lives when really they should be out there interacting with people and nature? I truly believe they should learn about reality first before virtual reality.
Lets take a glimps into our childrens future.
If we had the power to see into the future then maybe we would act a lot differently, but that's the thing, you can kind of see where all this is heading without firing up the flux copacitor.
<--This picture is a fairly accurate portrayal of the modern day family, I don't know about you, but this does not look like a healthy way for kids to develop their brain cells.
It's well documented that there are obvious links between excessive screen time and obesity combined with sleep disorders, poor social skills, depression, aggression and academic under-achievement and it doesn't show any sign of slowing down, you only have to do a little research on the subject and then look around to see that this is not the natural way we should be raising our children, just look at this picture below to see where we are heading.
The warning signs are there if you choose to read them.
Most of us were born before technology was such a huge part of everyday life, but these kids are born into it which is why we have to teach them about it, but I truly believe they need to first learn and see the actual reality before we thrust them into the virtual one.
I'm not preaching and I am aware that I spend too much time on steemit, but my brain was fully doveloped before I became a screen slave and I haven't had facebook, a T.V, or any other unsocial device in over 5 yrs as I recognized how it effected me in a negative way, steemit is my only digital addiction but at the same time its helping me and my family in so many ways and I feel as though I am investing in my families future.
Peace and love to the World.
Img source 1, 2, 3, 4,
I agree 100% I work in preeschool with small children and can see a Big difference just the last 3 years.
Some kids hardly know how to play anymore or have the same fantasy as before.
They are just use to playing and watching theire phones or Ipads.....we have to teach some children the basics how to interact with other children and how to play.
So sad to se this change but we are doing what we can to teach them again the time they ate with us....but u can only do do much.
Great post and really important subject.
Upvoted restermed
Thank you @saffisara for reading and commenting
This is so sad, it makes my heart bleed to hear this, if anyone needs any proof that this is a problem then all they need to do is read your post, someone who works with small children effected by digital overloads.
Thank you so much.
Ur welcome. It was a great post and something that effects everybody. It is sad but Im a beliver that it can be changed. We are doing our part and sometimes gives parents a homework like reading a book at home and then talk about it the day after.
Has made a few parents read a book at night for their kids insted of having their Ipads till bedtime.
I honestly had no idea that parents hardly read a book to their kids anymore....thats what teatches them of words, about fantasy and how to retell a story.
This is our project right now :0)
On point. The screen is ruining our ability to delay gratification, especially in children as it's become part of their programming nowadays. The second there is no excitement to be found, we rely on our phones, tablets and pcs for entertainment. As if the world was so boring and our existence so filled with suffering that we just have to distract ourselves from it. That is only true because we teach our minds to easily get bored.
Thank you for reading and for your comment @fisch this is a problem we all face, but young children should not be exposed to this world until their brains can cope with this sensory overload. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.
I saw my little brother (13 years younger than me) get addicted to the game DOTA. He lost weight, became more aggressive, and would be gone for over a day sometimes. He finally broke away from it, but it affected both his life and ours in a negative way.
None of those games were around when I was a kid, and I didn't have a cell phone until I was 20, so I never dove deep into a virtual reality mode of life or thinking. But kids today are just engrossed with it all. Makes me wonder what kind of future leaders we are going to have from these younger generations.
Upvoted and resteemed.
It is destroying these little kids brains, and its highly addictive, I work part time at a psychiatric ward and there are teenagers in there from spending 24hrs a day in front of a computer.
Yes it does make you wonder what leaders we will have in 20yrs.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this one.
And thanks again for your support
Yeah.. I do agree with you.. To keep in touch our babys with social community is number one..
By giving them virtual divice is like to creat him to be slave of scrane..
The modern mom have to take care about this.. If they love the babys.. Before the babys transformed to be slave..
I agree on this one. Children these days are often way less focussed on real stuff and prefer their virtual life. The average concentration of kids now a days has sunken to the bottom too...
Besides, I feel like children don't learn a lot about real things anymore either... They're not only becoming less intelligent, but also less self-sustaining and have to rely on others to do their dirty jobs.
Not every child is like that, but the amount of children that's like that is growing by the day. A very bad development.
I agree completely with your analysis. One thing I'd lime to add is that it's been shown recently that the entire human attention span is shorter than a goldfish has.
Now I appreciate that it was for the longest time it was a running joke that goldfish had surprisingly short memory and attention spans. However now studies have shown that in just the last 15+ years we've now dropped below that point.
Here's a link (from a YouTube channel Truthstream Media) that highlights some excellent points including our overall dwindling attention span.
Great video, thanks for that. Wow Smartphone lanes for people not looking where they are going. And look up signs in collage.
Five years ago when I ditched FB I also got rid of my smartphone. It was a very uplifting feeling, after 7months of freedom I missed an email from a client, I was 3 days late in replying to his email and it cost me a months worth of work.
I sadly gave in and realized I needed a smart phone.
I think I will soon be ready to try again :)
Smartphones like all technology can be fine in responsoble hands. I would never give smartphone, tablet tech to a developing brain/mind. Its to delicate. Especially from the EMF.
Yeah the videos that Truthstream Media make are excellent and so professionally researched. I recommend checking more of their work out on YouTube.
Just so long as tech is used, like everything else, safely and in moderation.
Very good observation @pizzachain
I'm glad I am not alone in thinking like this, yes you are right not all kids are like this, some parents have the insight to keep their children's brains activated in a more organic way, but I would say at least 60% of kids are now fully digital.
We are staying at a campsite and more than 50% of the kids here are floating around on hoverboards stuffing their faces with candy whilst taking selfies with the latest iDrones, and I am not exaggerating.
Thanks for your feedback.
But why?
Everyone is so focused on blaming parents or the children as if to think that they have any control at all.
Our society has been manipulated to bring us to this point in time. Free will is an illusion for the most part.
We have a lot more control than that. Parents just need to take charge. They are the moral authorities in their children's lives and need to step up into that role. There's nobody forcing them to let their kids do whatever they like whenever they like.
Manipulation? Explain that, please? I still have and use my free will. If I still got my free will, then why don't others have it? A lot of people follow the newest "trends", but it's the parents and/or children's own choice (FREE WILL!) to follow this trend!
We have taken full control of ours and our children's lives, there is a way to have free will and be free, you just have to say no to the system and create your own. We did it :)
Great post Mark. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I definitely agree with the points you make about technology like not-so-smart phones, tablets and other electronic distractions and how they disconnect us from EVERYTHING around us under the guise of giving us freedom. (Btw I believe they're called tablets because they are meant to treat a symptom)
Freedom from what I ask though? Freedom from the outside world, from a natural existence, from greater connectivity and interaction with the living world around us? We use these things, beLIEving these tools will bring the world and everything in it to us filled with a wealth of knowledge. But all it inevitably brings is a deluge of falsehoods, mistruths, unquantifiable expert facts and the rest is often hollow.
So I agree that we should understand it but stop letting it understand us. We may need technology but can we allow a world where we are slaves to it?
Thank you @alioops for this well thought out comment. Tablets, beLIEve :) love it.
So true, I have the feeling Google knows more about me than I do :l
But on the other hand we have taken big steps towards freedom, and are now living in a tinyhouse on our way to by a little plot of land to grow our food as we refused to 'standunder' and consent.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on this post.
You are most welcome. There was no hardship, it was a great post.
I'm loving your 'standunder' and consent statement. 😁😄 I am very sure you're very right about our "friends" in the alphabet agencies knowing more about than we know ourselves.
But not all knowledge is power
They can know whatever they wish to know about me. It will not restrict my desire to leave the toxic, corrupt state behind.
I hope we get to see your green garden grow?!
🌱🌾🌿🍀🍓🍅🍆
P.S. Sorry, I could've gone on with those emotes.
It becomes an issue in modern days. You know in India even poor people, have a smart phone which they buy for their children. They even sacrifice good food, Good education but have the mobile phone in their pockets. It become addiction,for the youth. In my family too I have two kids but they don't have any time for me. They keep themselves busy, I often advice them, but you know today's generation. They laugh at me for my little knowledge about inter net system. I am not against about modern technology, but children should grow up in adopting playway methods too. Thanks for sharing such a valuable lesson.
Thank you for sharing this with us @maya7
Wow I thought it was just a westerners disease.
It's so sad to know the whole world is hooked
I fully agree! This is why kids turn out the way they do nowadays.
Like like like!
Upvoted and resteemed.
Thank you @bdmomuae
Very good topic bro , i think things have changed a lot , nowadays childrens are not enjoying the life too much , well done bro @markwhittam
Thank you @fcbnews, you are right things have changed very quickly, maybe too quick for some parents to realise whats happening to their children.
It is everyone, last night I went out to eat with my family. Now before I get into this, phones are not aloud at any table we eat at, home or restaurant. But my wife happened to look over at the table beside us, now there was a family of 6, and all 6 had their faces in their phones.. your are correct the communcation skills are quickly going away. Now in our house none of our kids got a phone or tablet before the age of 14. On my oldest which is now 23, this was not a big deal, technology wasn't like it is now 9 years ago but my 15 year old, Tried every day to convince us into getting him a phone, much harder in current time. Great article my friend.
I'm sure that family were all texting each other about how slow the WiFi was.
I think it great that you limited your kids exposure to these devices I'm sure they benefited from it.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts :)
This is so true. And also frightening. Thanks for pointing it out.
Your welcome @rafine
I have a hard time imagining anything more frivolous than a kid on a "hoverboard with his face glued to a smartphone".
Ah, I'm probably totally off base with that remark, the kid was probably learning calculus or ancient Sanskrit while on their way to a Rotarian meeting.
Hahaha yeah somehow I think the only calculation he was doing was how much battery time he had left :)
Maybe he was disabled and playing Pokemon Go? ;-)
I have had a growing sense of alarm about this for several years now. I worry about what sort of world we're turning into and what happens when the rest of the "analog generation" starts disappearing and I get older and am surrounded by younger people who just don't relate to the world the same way I do.
I am an odd combination of early adopter and Luddite. There are some technologies I have jumped into and I've made my career in digital and mobile marketing. On the other hand, when I have kids I will want them to spend as much time outdoors learning about the natural world as possible, just as I did. I hate when people, kids or otherwise, can't go anywhere without being attached to an electronic device. I think free time and even boredom are important ingredients of a child's development. Having a whole free day ahead of you and being "bored" are things that lead to invention, imaginative play, creative projects and cooperation with other kids. I am highly drawn to the German-style 'forest kindergartens' where children play outdoors in the woods with light supervision and not a whole lot of props year round in all weathers but the most extreme. Children learn all sorts of social skills with each other this way and they of course learn both gross and fine motor skills learning to manipulate their world.
Long periods of playing with other kids without adults intervening mean that children have to figure out the social order themselves, negotiate, make decisions, take turns, practice persuading others that one's plan is the best one, etc. This is one of the things that I miss seeing - groups of kids playing on their own with each other in an unstructured way, without an adult organizing and dictating the activity. I remember walking around my neighborhood looking for other kids who might be up for doing something. We'd find other groups and different people would suggest things to do and sometimes we'd all decide pretty quickly on what that was. Some days we would debate different activities and locations. But we didn't appeal to an outside authority to settle it. That's the funny thing - with so many parents and grandparents now identifying with the whole 1960s "question authority" mantra there seem to be more parents than ever who think they should supervise their child's every activity.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
I totally agree that children should learn from nature. forest kindergartens are a great idea, Sweden also used to have forest school, I'm not sure if it's still practiced as we have decided not to send our kids to state school.
Thank you for this great comment :)
Thank you as well!
I live in PA. The day before yesterday there was a story on our local news about a young woman who was live streaming driving drunk. She had her 14 year old sister in the car. The woman kept live streaming when she crashed the car, kept live streaming while emergency crews were trying to help, kept live streaming while her sister died. Technology and social media allow us to keep in touch and share information, but there's a darker side. For young people, it allows them to "star" in their own movie and feel like celebrities, often to the detriment of real life.
This is pure madness @alk1
Thanks for sharing
If they don't learn about the real natural world how can they become real humans. Computer generated teaching removes the actual hands on tactile of experiencing life and the wonderment of it. It cheats the child and creates an abnormal cyber reality without having checks and balances in place for them to unplug and gain experience in life.
Seeing the wonderment and out right joy on a childs face when they participate in planting a seed in the ground and watching it grow and produce food for them is something that has to be hands on learning to grasp not just the concept but the reality of it.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
This is what we have chosen for our children, they know a lot more about nature than anything else.
You make some good points here. They need to get into nature and play, be forced to use their own imagination, and how to think.
I actually saw yesterday where some teenagers watched a man drown and filmed it on their phone while laughing and telling him they would not help. The sheriff or whoever they were interviewing by skype or whatever was tearing up... they asked if he was crying. I know I was. I watched their video .. you could not see the victim's face and he floated on top or they could not air it .. it was like a shadow.. to hear them make fun of him..omg..they are now passing laws to prosecute people that do not help.
The reality of that man drowning wasn't real to those teens. It's a side effect of social media that not enough people are talking about.
This is shocking, what is happening to the world?
Thanks for sharing this with us @rebeccabe
You're right on and it's getting worse and worse with Chromebooks polluting every classroom in the country. Innercity schools that can't afford them may actually be better off.
Yeah governments are really pushing for this, as they now it makes people dumb and makes them easy targets. Scary
On the back of the package, it clearly states that you should keep the device out of your child's reach. Technically, they should not even be able to accidentally reach it. So when their brain damaged, and you want to be compensated. They will remind you that you were warned.
Great observation, thanks for sharing, if any parents need any proof just read the instructions.
“Children need to use technology at a ratio of one to five,” said Larry Rosen, a psychology professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. “For every minute of tech use there should be an equivalent five minutes of time spent doing something else including talking to people, interacting with toys that promote creativity and doing activities that calm an overactive brain.”
Relationships are essential; humans are social creatures. Human nature craves human interaction, and that interaction cannot be effectively replaced by technology.
Thank you for your great comment, so true that humans crave human interaction, baby orphans that had little or no human interaction were later found to have serious mental health issues.
I have two children ages 6 & 8 and they both have tabs. I limit their use of them but I get a real sense of satisfaction when they choose to play with each other or play a game rather than use tabs and this seems to be happening a lot more recently.
My eight year old daugher keeps asking for a smartphone but I will not entertain the idea at the moment.
You're right though, despite it being obvious that the effects of too much screen time are negative, lots of families continue to let their children have unlimited screen time because it's just easier.
I know of one parent who was prescribed melatonin for their child because they were having problems sleeping. They let their child take their mobile phone to bed with them and when I informed them that the type of light being emitted by the phone actually stopped the body from producing natural melatonin she was shocked although not enough to stop her daughter from using her phone in bed.
Thats great that you set limits with their screen time as a lot of parents don't
I have seen a small child who must have been no more than 1yr old in a pram screaming and the only way the mother could get the child to stop crying was to hand over the ipad.
This is true about light emission keeping people awake, am I right in thinking that our skin has light receptors?
anyway, we live in the north of Sweden where the sun does not go down for two months, and during this time I find it very difficult to get a good nights sleep.
The smallest amount of light from these phones is bad and then if you combine that with the signals they give off then its no suprise.
Thank you for the interaction
Totally agree with you, It is so sad to see people communicating ONLY by text message and not face to face anymore
So sad but true.
WE DO IT EVERYDAY. AND WE THINK IT IS A FASTER WAY TO COMMUNICATE. BUT THE REAL THING IS WE ARE LOSING OUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS. PROBABLY WE DONT NOTICE THIS PERSONALLY BECAUSE WE ARE ANOTHER GENERATION. BUT I DO SEE THAT IN MY SON, WHO IS A 19 YEARS OLD. SOMETIMES I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HIM AND I HAVE TO SAY "REPEAT, PLEASE." I THINK FROM NOW ON, I WONT USE ANY MORE TEXT MESSAGE WITH HIM. THANK YOU @MARKWHITTAM FOR BRINGING THIS SUBJECT TO OUR ATTENTION. THERE ARE SO MANY SIGNALS AROUND US THAT I FEEL AS YOU, REALLY SAD, FOR THIS NEW GENERATION THAT WONT BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER PEOPLE, MAINLY AT HOME, THEIR WORK ARENA, ETC. TERRIBLE!!
Wonderful post.. resteemed
Thank you @smithmadu
@markwhittam
I was talking about it just a few minutes ago with my girlfriend, what makes me sad the most is that we are clearly in a situation of no return, from now on we can expect the worst
With apps like periscope and now the live accessible on facebook, I immediately found this dramatic, and unfortunately we have all seen the drifts, suicide and murder live, we will have to act and protect our children
@geemo-from-paris
Unfortunately I think you are right, it doesn't look like it's going to improve.
Thanks for the feedback
Good post - a scary trend that we as parents should be very wary of.
If teens stop communicating with their friends and others face to face, they will lose the ability to navigate complex social situations and that could be devastating for them when they are faced with college and job interviews.
Humans crave human contact.
Thanks for the feedback
I agree too. The whole thing is out of hand.
what are these kids going to do if/when the power goes out
I haven't got time for more comment, but going to resteem
got to get away from this screen, of course, after ten hours in a row
Yes it is getting way out of hand.
Thanks for commenting
I LOVE that you keep your kids off of the screens and interacting in the real life world! So amazing. I think its just so much easier to hand the kid a screen than to actually interact with them. Probably so that the adult can interact with their screen. So sad.
So true, people are using these devices now as a way to keep kids quite. So so sad
Thank you for stopping by
I agree as well. I experience frustration when I witness my niece, just turned three, buried in the iPad. I understand her parents reasons for giving her access...BUT, they don't understand the consequences of such. They refuse to look into the health ramifications of exposure to the technology, on the grounds that "we are okay after using this stuff, she will be too". I have long since learned you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink...hence, I hold my tongue.
Still very frustrating!
---Homa
Thanks for sharing, it must be so frustrating for you, a three year old brain should not be exposed to that kind of stimulation on a regular basic. It's well documented that it leads to all kinds of long term problems.
Awsome post @markwhittam. I dont have any kids yet, I truly understand what its like for most families disconnected. We should not get too caught up with virtual reality, causing us to isolate ourself.
Thank you, thats exactly what it is, isolation
Powerful stuff, I agree. The struggle now is with folks raising young developing minds.
I agree with you that children should be exposed to positive technology. However they should not be slaves to it. They should learn to control it. They should be programmed to learning or games.
So true, thanks for commenting
Thank you markwitan for upvoting me
fresh topic.... a break from cryptoworld....
i feel the same way.... nowadays its very seldom you see children playing on the streets, running and jumping...
they were glued with their pc, ipad, tablets and cellpones...and if your talking to them as if your begging for a glimpse or an answer....
i really dont know what would be the future we are looking for with this kind of system that we have....
i hope not to end with a virtual world where you just lay down and do everything on your bed...
Let's hope people wake up from this madness and get a grip on their children.
Thanks for reading and commenting
there are studies that prolong hours using gadegts led to numbness of body part... it is like mild stroke for children
Interesting article. Thanks!
Thank you @jackhoward21
I fully agree with this well written post it is something that concerns me as well even with our grandkids the idea of going into a restaurant without their iPods etc seems to be a totally shocking suggestion to them
I couldn't have expressed myself on this anywhere near as well as you did but I am of the same way of thinking
Thank you for your response :)
This is becoming a major problem in my eyes and I'm glad so many people agree with me.
I agree 100%. It's handy but also dangerous, the technology is so much further than we think. We give them all the information they need. The next step is a connection with the brain to the internet, than it's done with your freedom and free thinking.
It's scary but it probably will happen one day. :(
I agree with you. We are entering into a different generation. Smart phones are making a new society, in which our children dont think they need to use their brain. And those games, in which they learn to shoot and shoot and shoot is not helping either. No thinking and no feelings... This could be a very dangerous generation, probably worse than the generation that came back from Vietnam. If the education system and of course the parents want to do something positive would try to work together to save this future generation by exercising their mind. But I have heard so many times expressions like "they are playing with their tablet and they dont bother anybody." Upvote and resteemit.
Thank you for your response, you are right, I dread to think of the problems we will face in the future because of this.
I knew there would be a Wall-E reference tucked in there somewhere..The future is going to be so beautiful, but we are automating so many processes, that we are going to lose our work ethic. It shall be interesting to see what happens when we finally hard wire our brains into the system :)
Very true ,
And what society have we created for our children? We used to be able to play freely wherever we wanted. Now I wouldn't let my children out of my sight. If they don't have the options we did as we were children, how can we deny them their online entertainment? I completely understand where you are coming from. These are issues I argue in my mind everyday.
That's the thing, believe it or not the world is safer today than ever before, we have just been bombarded with horrible news stories for too long, everyone is scared. For the last 4yrs We habe traveled for six months of the year with the children and have never once felt unsafe even in North Africa. Things have changed I agree, but I think it's mostly people's fears that have changed.
Thanks for reading and commenting on this post.
That's a good point. I think in SA with our really high crime rate and abysmal driving standards, we are more cautious. Also, if I remember what I did as a child, I can hardly bear to let mine out of my sight!!!
Ok, yeah then I understand your point, yes I would also be very cautious.
Such a powerful post! So true! So hard to stop too!
Resteemed upvoted
Thank you @ch00fy much appreciated :)
interesting...i'm totally agree with you!
Great work -> great post!
Upvote & follow You!
Greetings from Poland @deazydee
Absolutely true, nowadays virtual life is becoming so overwhelming that people prefer to live live that better than their real life... No matter how ugly you are the instagram photo must be cool....
Most people on see technology as an excuse instead of an advantage. The technology age is here, we must adjust (sink or swim).
I personally use technology to my advantage, if it can help me make money, I use it. Otherwise it is useless. I only use electronic for building resources.
Any doubt? lol, cant blame them either parents are these days thinking about career and making money to give their child a better future and they have keep their children hooked to something , so that nothing wrong happens to them! So what else you expect from the children! Cant blame the parents either! And hey btw, if you fancy nature, here's something about my hometown, you will enjoy it!
https://steemit.com/travel/@alexkoshy/god-s-own-country-kerala-why-should-you-tour-india-v
Alex Koshy
My God Mark, you are right and thanks for the in site. The visual of the child on a hover board, face plastered to the smartphone was powerful. One more reason we home school and spend as much time as we can getting our son out and going places on the weekends. This all seems like a juggernaut, barreling toward us with no hope of stopping it. So many people caught in the machine. Pink Floyd was so ahead of their time!
Thank you @nap-g for reading and commenting.
We have kept our children away from all this madness. It is possible :)
The reason for this disconnect between older and younger generations is due to how fast technology is progressing. The older generations see this inevitable change towards virtual society as bad as it's turning everything they're used to upside down.
There's nothing wrong with spending more time online with virtual friends in virtual worlds than with "real" friends in the "real" world. It's simply a another method of socialising and communicating with people - one that is replacing the method older generations are familiar with and that's scares them because it makes their way of life obsolete.
The thing that is becoming obsolete isn't the old method of communication.. but the lack of real interaction with one human to another it is this method that will by far out way any new method to keep you content and happier in life.
It's one's relationships with people that truly define you as a human being.
I remember going outside and playing all day and not having all the tech we have today. I try to keep the grandkids outside all day then let them have the tablet and tv before bed as wind down time.
Our kids are out all day, less than once a month that get to play on my old phone for 15mins, I have loaded it up with learning apps, but even these are very in your face.
Thanks for the interaction
So true Mark. It's a tough issue. We give our son a specific time allotment for his electronics/nintendo, beyond that I encourage him to draw, build with legos, and help around the house and gardens. In school and even summer camp now, they allow the kids to bring tablets and other devices that almost act as surrogate babysitters for them. We see a lot of kids here in the US as young as 8 with cell phones too. Always heads down in a device at restaurants instead of interacting with families. We try so hard to resist that. Even with me, Steemit is the first profile/blog account I have had in 10 years, since the old myspace days and that was for business promotion only.
That's great that you limit your sons digital playtime.
It's the same in Europe, little kids with iDrones
taking selfies, after writing this post I saw a kid of about 5 sitting on a swing with his head down in the phone not swinging or smiling . :(
That's sucks. I try to stay optimistic about the future, but it's hard to imagine what the world will be like even in 10 more years when my son becomes an adult. Nobody will care about or talk to anyone directly anymore.
This is because of the generation we are living in. We used to play outdoor games back then but now we stick to our smartphones and that's what the childrens do. A baby does what he sees. Its like a replay action.
Yeah I see what you're saying, but it's up to the adults whether they want their children to become this way, our children are not like this, and they never ask for it because we keep them active in other ways. It so easy nowadays to give in and just say"that's the way it is"