Electronic People

Last updated on: January 13, 2015 at 1:43 pm by Rebecca Frech

Electronic People 2015-01-13T13:43:38-05:00 Rebecca Frech

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

9 o’clock in the morning and the electronic chirping begins. Before long it builds to a cacophony of beeps and ring tones. It must be Monday morning. Let the text messaging begin!

As my own children sit in the kitchen learning Spanish, Pre-Algebra, and American history, their peers are sitting somewhere in a classroom and texting my kids. After 15 minutes or so I begin replying to their friends “#2 is doing his schoolwork right now and I suggest that you do the same ~ His Mom” “#1 is busy doing Math. Why aren’t you in class? ~ Her Mother” There are never any apologies, just a brief break between classes before the messaging begins again.

What is going on that these kids have enough free time in school to spend hours trying to reach my kids? Are there no rules on when they can use their phones? (I’m not convinced that they need phones in the first place. They’re at school!) Is this the education of the leaders of the future…ignore the people in charge so that you can have meaningless conversations with people you only kind of know?

If I were the parent of one of these students, I would be furious, with my child, his school, and the people in charge. But who am I kidding? If I were one of these parents, I wouldn’t know what was going on and if I did I probably would just shrug it off…the way the parents of my children’s friends do. The way I do way too often.

There is a fog of apathy in our culture. It has settled down over adults and children alike. No one seems to care about anything except alleviating the boredom of the moment, and avoiding anything unpleasant or too hard. We are a culture of people too tired and disinterested to tell students to put their phones away and pay attention to the people actually standing in front of them instead of the imaginary importance of a conversation taking place in a box.

The dull, glazed eyes of our children are the direct result of no one ever reaching out a hand and turning the darn things off! The way I did this morning to the stunned disbelief of my children and the shock of their friends. The pile-up of electronic messages which awaited them on their phones, email, and Facebook pages asking “You’re not answering me. Where did you go?” would have taken them hours to wade through had I not just deleted the lot.

Our kids are searching for people in this world, people to connect to, people who make them feel important and as if they matter to someone…anyone. In a world where other people are a mere text message away, why do they all seem so alone? They keep searching for people, but would they know what to do with a real one if she were standing right in front of them? I don’t even know any more…

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 21, 2012

Picky

Next Post

October 24, 2012 3 1/2 Time Outs -- #4

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was Isaiah's most famous prophecy about the Messiah's birth?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A virgin will conceive A prophet like Moses A king will rise in Nineveh A child will lead lions