Just a Thought...
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I am surrounded by children almost everyday in my filed of study/work. On my down time from those two things, children are still a very big part of my life because I am lucky enough to have a very large family, many of my cousins being about 13 years old and younger.
Let me just say this, I had to look away when one of my younger cousins (5) threw the tantrums of all tantrums when his iPad died at the dinner table.
I know that I am a millennial, and ECE student and proud owner of almost every key tech product on the market but I was honestly lost for words when this occurred. Not that every family member (excluding myself) ran to get whatever charger they had in their bags/pockets (we all clearly came prepared for some solid family time with one another.
I’m simply just writing this blog post, a little unprofessionally speaking if I’m honest because I think that this topic needs to be discussed. Yes, technology is wonderful, it changes the world, connects people and makes breakthroughs but it also sent my 5 year old cousins world upside-down. Now, I had meltdown moments of my own when I was a child, like when my Nintendo 64’s chord was accidentally tripped over and ripped out causing the system to shut off. When my brother beheaded all of my Barbie dolls (he’s a nice guy now) and basically every time my mother denied me a chocolate bar in the supermarket checkout lane. But this is different. This is dependance. And I don’t know what to make of it.
As an ECE I only truly know what goes on within the four walls of the classroom/centre that I’m working in. How would I know if before the child enters the building their fathers iPhone is being torn from their hands in the backseat. How do I know that they spooned their cereal while scrolling through Instagram (yes, they have Instagrams). I don’t know and probably should not know. I am starting to worry that children are finding school a withdrawal from their beloved tech time. I am starting to worry that myself booking the TV for last period is no longer exciting, but that the iPad cart sends them into the frenzy the DVD player and a Bill Nye video used to.
Again, this is just my thought process right at this given moment. I will not even mention how close my 1 year old cousins eyes were to his mom’s phone while she played the intro to the Secret Life of Pets movie, calming him down as he was getting changed. I think because they are so very young I get worried that this mobile devices are again, becoming a necessity. I do have to accept the fact that they are just curious of the wonders of the colours, buttons and sounds flowing from the tiny device in their hands. Just like I was curious of everything growing up.
The thought I will leave on is that when I was growing up I was obsessed over things but those obsessions faded and I got older. The doll phase, video game phase and etc were mere parts of my past that I usually do no revisit often, or crave to at least. Technology is clearly forever, yes it may advance and an iPad may be fully hologram in a few years time but the idea, the bubble of technology will remain the same. Will these children get sick of it? Will they crave the outside world?
How about if there is no sense of non-digital left by that point? Will they not know what they are even wondering about? Trust me, this anxious blog post is with a light-heart. I do believe that there is that balance that we need, we just have to find it (hopefully I can find it and let you know in a future blog post!)
Julia
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