Just Ranting About Life..

  It occurred to me that we spend a lot of time with our I pad, I pods, smartphones, texting, TVs, stereos and all the modern technology, and we seem to fall more and more away from the communication, and old fashioned values we were taught, mostly without even thinking about what cost that is having on ourselves and our families, and as a nation.

I find this move away from communication and family  values very alarming. Granted,  I use a computer, cell phone and reader, but I am a non-texter, by choice, if I want to talk to you I do it by telephone, that’s right, I call you, or I talk face to face.

I have watched people walking down the streets texting, they don’t even look up and watch where they are going, what can they be so engrossed in that they walk right out into traffic? 

I have often heard of people (kids) texting whilst asleep..and not even being aware of doing it. Come on people put that phone down. Parents make the kids put the phone in YOUR room at night.

I actually over heard a teenager at my kids school tell his parents that he couldn’t text them because he left his phone at home ..(snickering as he said).he didn’t know how to use the public phone, let alone where it was located..REALLY? That wouldn’t have passed my “MOM Radar”.

COMMUNICATE.

I hear little kids wine at their parents to get them the latest and very expensive smart phone..AND the Parents DO IT…holy cow people…my parents made me earn my allowance and I had to bank it. Mom wouldn’t have paid that much money for anything..

What I’m getting at is the breakdown in family values and parenting skills that were so common 30 years ago that simply do not exist now. Why is that? and is that one of the reasons families are breaking down? Why we are loosing entire generations of kids?

You’re damn right it is.

What can we do about it? Well in my opinion, take away the cell phones from your kids..limit the computer time/games,  get rid of the ipads/pods. Take the doors off bedrooms, (harsh yeah, but they can’t slam their doors and hide from life,  they have to talk then don’t they?). Parents need to learn to say NO. Make them communicate.  

And I’m sorry but texting isn’t communicating.. its a game, “everybody is doing it.. how many words and how fast can you do it”

TALKING is communication.

Sitting down at supper and actually talking to your kids.. or your spouse, housemate, boy/girlfriend.  

Talking is becoming a lost art, how are we supposed to learn how to be social, or form relationships that mean something, to make lasting friendships, and families, if all we can do in type LOL and CUL8R? Put the phones in a basket at supper time, NO PHONES, just a suggestion…
 Another thing that ticks me off,  did you know they actually tossed out writing in most schools, “cursive” is simply too hard to teach, why bother when they can use a computer keyboard instead ? SERIOUSLY?

I was livid when I found out they were not teaching my kid to write his own name.. and now at 18 he prints his name like he is 5…and I mean it looks like A 5 year old scrawled it.

REALLY good idea don’t you think? Picture this.. a man in corporate America.. buying a business… signing the papers .. and his signature.. that printed 5 year old scrawl. Would YOU trust that guy?? Heck no. 
Whats worse, 10 to 1 YOUR kid can’t process the “how to of cursive handwriting” either because schools didn’t bother to teach him or her how. Really great self-esteem booster for our kids isn’t it.

How many other things are our kids and family loosing? Holidays, Traditions? Family Stories and Histories? 

We do not need to make our lives miserable, but really? We can learn from our Parents and Grandparents, they sat around the supper table and talked to each other, and families were intact and more tightly knit back then, so they must have been doing something right.

OK, enough ranting about this subject. We simply need to take this problem in hand and do something, or we are going to loose generations, of our families, of our teaching values to our kids.. If you think you can do the techno-thingys with your kids, and still instill family values..I encourage you to really take a look at what is really happening.

I know most of you who read this will not exactly agree with the loss of the texting, phones or other techno goodies, but isn’t it time to sit on our porches, with a glass of lemonade and just talk to each other again?

P.S. and no my kids do not have or use cell phones, computers, or video games. If they want those things they have to earn the money to buy them, or save for them and even then time is very limited for their use, and that’s MY choice.  My kids? They talk.

Kate