Disconnection

Yesterday the news was all about the high school shooting in Florida. The Facebook posts starting piling up last night as more and more people lamented about how we need change and how there are too many guns in America. Then the other people who own guns went on a rampage and say that they have the right to own guns and it is mental illness and not guns that are killing people. The argument could go on until the cows come home. This post is not about the arguments.

There is another aspect that needs to be looked at closer.  That is the disconnect in our society. We have more money today, we are more connected than ever with our digital devices, but at the same time, we are more disconnected.

Now children do not come out to play. Instead, they sit inside their bedrooms playing video games or watching youtube videos. Tweens and teens spend hours on Instagram and social media. A generation or two ago teens met after school at the local burger joint. They talked to their friends in person, face to face. Today we have the cyberbully, at worse a generation ago, someone might write a nasty note about you on the bathroom wall. I remember that. Stacy is a C word in scrawled marker in the bathroom stall.

It is almost as bad in the adult world. Now we text our friends, but rarely pick up the phone to call. Not many people invite us over to their homes, and they consider a post via Facebook to keeping up with you. How about a visit or a phone call? What about lunch? I try to make an effort to call my family members and friends. I think some of my friends are baffled when I call, people don't call anymore.

As a society, we are more disconnected than ever in many ways. Church attendance is down, it used to be the backbone of the community. Children are left alone for hours with nothing but a video game to entertain them. Instead of talking to their parents, teens are watching Youtube videos. I could go on and on with examples, we all know what I am talking about.

What can we do besides stop buying guns and implementing gun control? We can spend more time talking to our children and less time on the Internet or glued to our digital devices. We can limit screen time and require our children to get outside and play with other children. We can stop feeling guilty for not buying our tween the latest iPhone or a phone at all! We can limit our children's use of social media. All these things are possible if you want to change the trajectory of what is happening in our country. It starts in the home.

As a parent and a community member, I desire to change the way things are. It takes time for change to happen. There is a fantastic book out by Sebastian Junger called, "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging." This book goes in search of answers to some important questions about personal fulfillment, community and our search for meaning in a chaotic world.

Before you order the book on Amazon Prime, go out and take a walk around your neighborhood. Say hello to the lonely retired man next door, and wave at the woman walking her pug. (That might be me) Connect.

Before you go turn on the TV tonight, call your Mom. She is waiting for your call. Better yet, go visit her in real life!

Thanks for reading. See you later.



P.S. For those of you that follow my blog I decided to install a better system to check my spelling. (I am dyslexic but love to write) I hope my blog will read easier now!

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