RANT OF THE DAY: MOBILE PHONES

Ok, I know I’m over 50 and that when I was a teen mobile phones looked like bricks and the most exciting thing you could play on a computer was ping pong, but do the youth of today really need to be on their phones 24/7?

I’m not against technology, I use it; a lot! It gives me access to information that I use for our home ed adventure, it keeps me in contact with friends; close and long distance (which saves phone calls) and it’s a great place to while away a few hours on pointless games on Facebook when I really can’t be arsed to craft or watch my partner play Lara or read (you get the picture), but I do not under any circumstances feel the need to be ‘connected’ all the time.

My biggest bugbear is when I have visitors or if I’m visiting and the person who is visiting or being visited is on their mobile the whole time they are here/I’m there.  Did you want to see me or not?  Its bloody rude peeps!  Now if an emergency phone call comes through or you’re waiting for a call re a job/appointment/long lost relative, then fine, but, to be honest, everything else can damn well wait!

Ok, the odd text message that might come through and you think “I’ll quickly answer that” is fine, but to be constantly checking your Facebook account is not!  No, it really isn’t people, it really isn’t. 

I see it on the street as well, babies or toddlers sitting in pushchairs gurgling away or chatting and their parents totally ignoring them and checking their profiles on FB, Twitter, Instagram, Googleplus, etc.  Those kids need interaction too you know and their interaction is with you.  We are raising a bunch of people who have been, basically, ignored the whole of their childhood and then, obviously, get addicted to social media when adults because, finally, they think they have ‘friends’; people who care.  Does anyone else wonder if this is why kids get sucked in by paedophiles online?  They have someone who wants to be with them, talk to them, tell them how special they are; ‘cause they certainly haven’t been told that when they were young on a regular basis.

Sorry, I’m off on an extreme now, but what if?  Social Media has its place, in fact it’s fantastic, but remember it isn’t ‘real’; what is real is the physical people around you, the life that goes past your window each day, the people you meet up with, family, friends and your children.  Put the phone down!  Turn it off for a couple of hours (better still, turn it off for a day) and start living in the real world; you’ll be surprised at what you can get done when not ‘tied’ to the phone. If you must visit Social Media, set aside an hour or two a day and 'check in', it really doesn't take longer than that to catch up, believe me (I'm not including emails here by the way which are a bit different).

And, most importantly to me, if you are at my house, you are visiting me!  If you constantly check your phone I will take it off you and slam it against the wall.  You know who you are and have been warned.

Cya