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Why are we willingly hooking children onto devices?
The new movie, Disconnect Me, has some uncomfortable truths and important messages.
Technology addiction is real, and yet, we seem to be happily leading many members of the next generation down that path. Why?
There are few times where I am so shocked that my mouth is agape, but three times in the last few months I have been. And it’s the same type of incident each time.
When at a restaurant, at a close table, a family is gathered for a meal. There is a child of about three to five years old, their parents, and one or two siblings.
The family is eating, but the youngest child is staring at a device — be it tablet or phone. And one of the parents is feeding the child. The child neither looks at the parent nor looks at the food. Their eyes stay on the device, while the parent continues to supply food on a fork or spoon to the child’s mouth. And all the kid does is chew, while they stare at a screen.
I was reminded of these truly shocking incidents when viewing the documentary “Disconnect Me”. An Australian movie, it shows what happens when the director, Alex Lykos, decides to disconnect from his phone, computer, and tablet for 30 days. He makes this decision when he realises his casual technology use is…
