Technology and the Future: Our Kids Have It Too Good (or Maybe Not)

I grew up through the technology boom. When I was in grade school, the only computer use we received was computer lab day and we played The Oregon Trail. In middle school we used laptops with black and orange screens that were only capable of word processing. I signed up for my first email address in high school and I was lucky to get a new message once a week. Of course, this was back when spam came in a can, and not a special folder in my inbox. 

Now, my iPhone has a better processor and more internal storage than my first desktop computer. Angry Birds has better graphics than any DOS based disk I used to load. I spend approximately three to four hours on my laptop reading scores of emails, the day's news, Facebook updates and various other media outlets. I get more "screen time" in one day than I used to get in a week, maybe even a month! 

It truly is a different world. I remember having to check books out from the library to do research for a paper. Now I can access almost any article or book online without leaving my house or touching paper. It would seem as though the Internet offers us a vastly better, more efficient way to access information, but is it really a gift?

I have minor panic attacks when I go outside of my service area and can't send or receive text messages. I get a bit twitchy when I'm away from my computer for too long. What did I used to do when all we had was a landline phone and I wasn't allowed to make or receive phone calls after 9 p.m.? How did I live before Safari got tabs?

My son is nearly two years old and knows how to play Pocket God on my phone. He knows how to get another episode of Word World running on Netflix for Wii without help. He is learning how to speak and he refers to the Wii-mote as "mote." While these things are remarkable (and cute), I often have to take a step back and wonder, "Am I allowing him to have too much access to technology?"

When do I draw the line? 

We definitely balance his exposure. He plays outside for a few hours everyday when it's nice enough. We take him to the zoo at least once or twice a month. We go for family walks and bicycle rides several times a week. He and I play with his hundreds of toys during much of the day with the television off. We love books at my house and my wife and I read pretty consistently. My son and I read many books to each other over the course of each day. I refuse to get him a cell phone and he will have limited access to the family computer when he's old enough to know how to use it. I know that too much of anything isn't healthy but I also wonder if maybe I haven't done myself an injustice by not limiting my own use. I am his role model and if I am addicted to tech, how do I tell him not to be?

It's one of those "practice what you preach" things. Looks like it's time to become unavailable.