by Chas Bonner
We all worry about our kids and grand-kids, which is normal for any generation, but probably even more normal for our generation simply because the world and our nation is becoming increasingly problematic.
Often I feel guilty about what we are loading onto our kids---huge national debt, a broken Social Security and Medicare system, deteriorating infrastructure around the country, and problems in the environment.
What has not really crossed my mind however is problems of technology and kids, or not the technology itself, but the way it is used or misused. On July 1 this year, Patti Hardwick wrote a blog entitled “EMPATHY OF OUR YOUTH,” and it discussed 40% less empathy in this generation, primarily due to constant electronic communication.
Confirming that concern about empathy was another recent study on texting. The AVERAGE teenager today sends 3200 texts per month. That is over 100 per day! And teenage girls send an average of 20% more than boys.
Could anyone not worry about that? In today’s interdependent world, we need increasing abilities of communication, and that goal is not fed by texting, it is fed by talking, listening, negotiating, convincing, and compromising.
Let’s talk WITH our children; they are our future.
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