Increasingly, we are lonely and isolated, a bit like gerbils running endlessly on a revolving wheel. What are we doing to ourselves and the generations to come? I am so sad for our children!
A couple of months ago, my husband and I stepped out for conversation over a meal. The restaurant we chose was busy, and our little table was wedged between two families. I couldn’t help but pay attention to the people at the tables beside us.
What caught my eye was that the families were well-socialized, but not with each other… Everyone – children, parents, and one grandparent – was nose-deep in an electronic device. I didn’t stare, but I wouldn’t have been detected if I had.
Mealtimes are for connecting with live people, but it was like they were eating alone.
It was so strange…the table on the other side was similar! Within the two families, everyone had a smartphone. They ordered their meals, and then immediately got back to their device. Any conversation that was happening was along the lines of who was tweeting, what they were tweeting, who was updating Facebook, or what game they were playing.
I heard several of the children say they were bored…and truly, they looked bored! This is the wrong kind of boredom!
Increasingly Lonely
“Research of every kind has suggested that media, constantly being indoors, over-entertainment, trying to manage children into little adults, exposure to sexual material and immoral values at an early age, is destroying the soul of children…This stress is wreaking havoc and creating horrendous results on a generation of children who are growing up with emotional adult illnesses at early ages, lower vocabulary, more depression, vastly growing obesity as a childhood disease, and so much more…Children are starving for real life and drowning in the midst of an empty one.” ~Sally Clarkson
So I ask – is this why, even though we are so well ‘connected’ electronically, we are an increasingly isolated and lonely culture?
‘Look Up’ by Gary Turk teaches us why through a love story. Note: one word (bast***) at 45 seconds.
I don’t think it takes a lot of courage to say that we should avoid being captivated by the world, but it does take courage to actually live out those words, especially to model it before our children.
“If you then are risen with Christ, seek [look up at] those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” ~Col. 3:1-2
“I lift up my eyes [look up] to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.” ~Psalm 121: 1-2
Have you seen Captivated: Finding Freedom In a Media Captive Culture?
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