Day 55: Children and Electronics

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 55: Children and Electronics

A few days ago, I was on a bus in downtown Toronto when a woman with an enormous stroller came on board. I found this annoying, to say the least. Strollers take up a lot of space on a bus and are a danger to passengers. It’s bad enough that these strollers are allowed on a bus, but in my opinion, should be banned during peak hours. Bicycles are not allowed, so why strollers …

To further my annoyance, the toddler in the stroller was watching a video game on an iPhone. When a call came in the mother took the phone away from the toddler to answer it. The kid immediately started screaming and thrashing about.

I wasn’t the only one who sat and stared at this kid and his mother. He couldn't even walk or talk and already his entertainment came from a cell phone!

Then yesterday I noticed a picture on Facebook. A ten-year-old was holding a tablet, a three-year-old was busy with an iPhone, and dad was asleep next to a baby. There you have it readers, today’s modern family. 

Is this what today's parents are like? They don't buy toys for their kids anymore, they don't play with their children anymore, they shove an electronic device in their hands to keep them quiet.

If I find it annoying, the experts are of the opinion that cellphones at a young age can cause damage to these young bodies.

The rate of MWR absorption is higher in children than adults because their brain tissues are more absorbent, their skulls are thinner, and their relative size is smaller. Fetuses are particularly vulnerable because MWR exposure can lead to degeneration of the protective sheath that surrounds brain neurons, they report.

Multiple studies have shown that children absorb more MWR than adults. One found that that the brain tissue of children absorbed about two times more MWR than that of adults, and other studies have reported that the bone marrow of children absorbs 10 times more MWR than that of adults.

https://www.webmd.com/children/news/20140819/children-cell-phones#1

Another article talks about the damage cellphones have on children’s eyes. https://tinyurl.com/zeomtm2

Other than the possibility of causing harm I can only wonder how these kids will grow up. Experts all agree that regular toys benefit children in a number of ways. Take those toys away and what will happen? Will a lack of physical toys influence their motor skills? 

https://www.howtolearn.com/2013/10/developmental-benefits-of-toys-for-young-children/

Soft toys teach children sensitivity. Stuffed toys may develop a love for animals. Blocks can lead to a love for building things. Combing a doll's hair might produce a stylist or beautician. And as the child grows up, will he or she develop a love for books and in the process learn how to write with correct spelling and grammar? Will they have any kind of an imagination?

While most people enjoy playing computer games, how young is too young to play these games?

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Texting ... is anything really that important?

A friend recently posted on Facebook that they’d gone hiking on the Lone Mountain Park trail in Las Vegas. Along the way they noticed two girls on horseback, listening to music and texting on cell phones. She called this a funny incident, to me this is annoying as hell.

I admit, texting is one of my pet peeves. I can understand that one person would text another to let them know their whereabouts, such as “I’m still at work” or “I’m in the lobby”. In general though, what is so important that it has to be communicated immediately?

If I was to meet those two girls on horseback, listening to music and texting, I would have a hard time not pulling the earbuds out of their ears and slapping the phones out of their hands. I would give them the message “Pay attention to your horse, your surroundings and enjoy the sounds of nature.”

Of course, it’s not just those two who are obsessed with texting. I’ve heard of men texting while using a urinal, heard women texting while in a bathroom stall, and there’s the ever annoying texting while walking and even worse, driving. How many accidents could have been avoided if some silly message had not been sent?

How different it was back in the day.

When home phones became popular, my folks applied for a line and were told that the current waiting time was between 12 to 16 months. Because of my diabetic brother, and a note from the doctor, stating that a home phone was necessary for his safety, we received our phone in just three months.

When cell phones became popular, only business people carried one. For the average person, a cellphone was a luxury they could ill afford.

Nowadays, just about everyone, even children, have cellphones. Only, in many cases the phone is not used for calling. No, for many people, especially youngsters, it’s a status symbol as they put the latest model on display. They use the phone for games, to check their email messages and Facebook updates, and of course to text.

Parents will say that they gave their child a cell phone for their safety. Hm, makes you wonder how kids way back when survived. When my generation was growing up, nobody had cell phones, yet we all made it to adulthood.

Did we ever face emergencies ... sure we did. I remember spraining my ankle on my way home from school. I didn’t have a phone, there was nobody around, so for a little over a mile, I hobbled home that day. My generation learned how to handle a situation and in the process, we toughened up.

Like I said, texting is a pet peeve of mine. It annoys me when people walk at a snail pace because they’re busy texting, it makes my blood boil when I see a driver punching in a message while standing at a red light, or even worse, driving. And it certainly annoys me to see kids, glued to their phone.