This week a mom signaled to the women next to her, dropped her voice and whispered, \"He's getting a cell phone for his birthday this week.\"
Suddenly I knew there'd be another preteen walking around silently chaperoned by his mother, as the little gadget comes imbedded with a GPS system so mom can trace every step he makes.
I silently cringed.
What happened to teaching kids to make a plan for the day, communicate the plan to their family and trust the kids will do it?
With all these gadgets boasting electronic chaperones, kids and families do less up-front planning. Why bother when they can reach one another on a whim, wherever and whenever they want?
With our over-reliance on these portable gadgets, we're missing some remarkable human experiences, not to mention that our kids rarely go out of their comfort zone when it comes to communication.
Consider this:
In the early 1990s, when state office phones still had cords, a referral for a public-health home visit floated across my desk. The contact number listed \"neighbor,\" meaning the family with the high-risk infant on an oxygen tank lacked a phone.
I called the neighbor who provided directions to the rural home. \"Head towards Huger; then toward Cainhoy High School. Cross over the French Quarter Creek Bridge and turn left at the big oak tree.\"
\"Simple enough,\" I thought.
Loading the state car with a medical chart, directions from the neighbor and a baby scale, I headed out. There was no cell phone, pager or GPS to help with communication, only the neighbor's directions.
I passed Cainhoy High School, crossed over the French Quarter Creek Bridge and found myself facing a grove of huge old oak trees that seemed to run for miles. Every tree lining the road looked like \"the big oak tree.\" Miles from the nearest town, without a cell phone or pager, I was lost in the rural South.
Following the trees for roughly a mile, I turned the car around and noticed an older woman sitting on her front porch.
Losing little time, I stopped and asked whether she happened to be the lady who had provided directions that morning. As a matter of fact she was.
The woman with a warm smile and caring attitude pointed to the \"old oak tree\" where I was supposed to make the turn. Still, I could not see \"the\" tree, even after several attempts of instruction by the woman. Finally an old man who'd been talking to the woman got on his bicycle and said something like, \"Follow me.\"
I drove the car slowly behind the man on the bicycle, smiling at the irony of modern medicine, and made the left turn at the \"old oak tree,\" which was within a couple hundred yards of the woman's home. The man waved goodbye and continued on his bike ride back. It was a beautiful moment, witnessing neighbors helping neighbors get access to health care.
In today's world, it's likely this kind of experience wouldn't happen. Perhaps state cars have GPS systems and workers have cell phones. But what happens if either one malfunctions?
How are kids who've grown up relying on cell phones from the time they were 10 going to learn the etiquette, confidence and discernment necessary to ask a stranger for help, if by chance they find themselves lost and out of range?
Jeanine Stice
Reliance on cell phones affects kids' ability to communicate | StatesmanJournal.com | Statesman Journal
Suddenly I knew there'd be another preteen walking around silently chaperoned by his mother, as the little gadget comes imbedded with a GPS system so mom can trace every step he makes.
I silently cringed.
What happened to teaching kids to make a plan for the day, communicate the plan to their family and trust the kids will do it?
With all these gadgets boasting electronic chaperones, kids and families do less up-front planning. Why bother when they can reach one another on a whim, wherever and whenever they want?
With our over-reliance on these portable gadgets, we're missing some remarkable human experiences, not to mention that our kids rarely go out of their comfort zone when it comes to communication.
Consider this:
In the early 1990s, when state office phones still had cords, a referral for a public-health home visit floated across my desk. The contact number listed \"neighbor,\" meaning the family with the high-risk infant on an oxygen tank lacked a phone.
I called the neighbor who provided directions to the rural home. \"Head towards Huger; then toward Cainhoy High School. Cross over the French Quarter Creek Bridge and turn left at the big oak tree.\"
\"Simple enough,\" I thought.
Loading the state car with a medical chart, directions from the neighbor and a baby scale, I headed out. There was no cell phone, pager or GPS to help with communication, only the neighbor's directions.
I passed Cainhoy High School, crossed over the French Quarter Creek Bridge and found myself facing a grove of huge old oak trees that seemed to run for miles. Every tree lining the road looked like \"the big oak tree.\" Miles from the nearest town, without a cell phone or pager, I was lost in the rural South.
Following the trees for roughly a mile, I turned the car around and noticed an older woman sitting on her front porch.
Losing little time, I stopped and asked whether she happened to be the lady who had provided directions that morning. As a matter of fact she was.
The woman with a warm smile and caring attitude pointed to the \"old oak tree\" where I was supposed to make the turn. Still, I could not see \"the\" tree, even after several attempts of instruction by the woman. Finally an old man who'd been talking to the woman got on his bicycle and said something like, \"Follow me.\"
I drove the car slowly behind the man on the bicycle, smiling at the irony of modern medicine, and made the left turn at the \"old oak tree,\" which was within a couple hundred yards of the woman's home. The man waved goodbye and continued on his bike ride back. It was a beautiful moment, witnessing neighbors helping neighbors get access to health care.
In today's world, it's likely this kind of experience wouldn't happen. Perhaps state cars have GPS systems and workers have cell phones. But what happens if either one malfunctions?
How are kids who've grown up relying on cell phones from the time they were 10 going to learn the etiquette, confidence and discernment necessary to ask a stranger for help, if by chance they find themselves lost and out of range?
Jeanine Stice
Reliance on cell phones affects kids' ability to communicate | StatesmanJournal.com | Statesman Journal
