Thanks for sticking with me the past 100 weeks or so. There are a million other blogs you could be reading—and 999,990 are cooler, funkier, wittier, and flashier than mine. I am so not a blogger’s blogger. I’m not really a blogger at all. I’m just a person who thinks and writes. And I desperately want to believe there’s still a place in this world for quiet reflection and honest, thoughtful writing.
The online world scares the bejeebers out of me. First, it’s made me a 38-year-old dinosaur. I’m just a few wrinkles away from being one of those old ladies who has to call her children just to send a photo attachment. But I’m OK with that. I accept the fact that if I were an eager learner, I could keep up with the rest of the world. And maybe my bumbling hours of inefficiency will one day give me the kick in the pants I need to make online photo albums and upload my own videos onto YouTube. I sorta doubt it though.
My own technological extinction takes a backseat to my biggest fear about the online world. What I most fear are the effects of a world that communicates primarily for the purposes of self-promotion. Or a generation that mindlessly types code into a phone with no regard for well-formulated thoughts or good sentence structure. What will become of a society in which face-to-face communication is awkward, dull, and inconvenient?
I'm not all gloom and doom. Actually, I like the challenge it offers.
As much as possible, we are choosing a tech-free lifestyle for our children. We have no intention of getting them iPods, cell phones, or Facebook accounts. I know it sounds self-righteous (not to mention impractical), but hear me out. I want their questions to be answered from the library as often as the Internet. I hope their friendships will grow through soul-searching, eyeball-to-eyeball conversations and shared experiences rather than text messages. I hope their teachers will explain Shakespeare to them in person rather than on a classroom blog. I pray they’ll be able to find friends who value the person in the room with them more than a plastic piece of equipment.
Yeah, easy for me to say. My oldest just turned 10. Who knows what technology will throw at us in the next 10 years? Internet access may be required for breathing. But until then, we’ll give it our best shot.
As much as possible, we are choosing a tech-free lifestyle for our children. We have no intention of getting them iPods, cell phones, or Facebook accounts. I know it sounds self-righteous (not to mention impractical), but hear me out. I want their questions to be answered from the library as often as the Internet. I hope their friendships will grow through soul-searching, eyeball-to-eyeball conversations and shared experiences rather than text messages. I hope their teachers will explain Shakespeare to them in person rather than on a classroom blog. I pray they’ll be able to find friends who value the person in the room with them more than a plastic piece of equipment.
Yeah, easy for me to say. My oldest just turned 10. Who knows what technology will throw at us in the next 10 years? Internet access may be required for breathing. But until then, we’ll give it our best shot.
