Is your smart phone making your family dumber?
Physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1945) was a genius who helped lay the ground work for the creation of the atomic bomb. One of his biggest worries was that people would misuse technology in ways catastrophic to humanity. In the later part of his life, he advocated for peace between nations because he saw a frightening possibility: negative changes in humanity’s social fabric caused by technological advances.
Albert Einstein said, “It’s become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.”
Merriam Webster defines humanity as behaving in compassionate, sympathetic, or generous ways”. By this definition, Einstein’s statement is even truer today than it was in the 1940’s.
Our smart phones are causing problems for our children.
- Researchers asked 170 parents of toddlers about their attachment to their cell phones. Parents who admitted to problematic-level phone use were more likely to interrupt their interactions with their child by turning to their phones. Toddlers whose mothers became distracted by their phones were more likely than other children to have behavior problems as they got older.
- For every 30 minutes of daily handheld screen time an 18 month old gets, his or her risk of speech delay increases by 50%.
Once I was eating at Cracker Barrel, a family friendly restaurant and saw something that absolutely appalled me. A family of four was sitting at the table across from us, and every member of the family spent the entire meal time using a smart phone. Not a word was spoken among the family members during the entire meal. The family sat down at the table and looked at menu’s silently. Janet, the waitress, took the family’s orders. Then each member of the family pulled out a smart phone and began using it. Food was set before each person and each person ate, all the while looking at the screen of a smart phone. After the father thanked the waitress and paid the bill, the family left, still staring at smart phone screens as they walked out.
We ate slowly and chatted quietly together, waiting until the family next to us left. We wanted to politely ask the waitress if this family’s behavior was becoming more common today. Janet shook her head sadly and acknowledged that it is becoming more common.
Did you know that putting down your phone and actually interacting with humans increases your brain’s capability to function well? A recent study found that actually speaking with a friend or loved one face to face for just 10 minutes improves brain function and helps prevent brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This effect is amplified when walking while talking.
Please do not let your smart phone dumb down your brain! Avoid overusing it. Please do not let it negatively impact your child.
Do not let a smart phone dumb down your family!
Let the encouraging words in these near a river posts help you
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I am in total agreement with you on this one B J! It is such a blessing to be able to sit down with your family with no cell phones or tablets receiving the attention instead of talking to each other.