Marrying my high school boyfriend at the age of 20, was not a mistake, even though we called it quits after five years. As with every experience that may end, lessons are learned, personal growth prevails. When James came home having purchased 1 Gigabyte of memory for his computer for $2000 back in 1994(?), I was not impressed. We were broke students; pasta was eaten multiple times per week.
My top CP Pokemon.
This was not the cause of the break up, however. We had simply grown apart. I was married to someone who preferred video games, over human interactions. (I’m sure he had his issues with me, as well, to be fair!)
Today, I observe my own relationship with technology morphing into more of an addictive nature. When waiting for a dental appointment, what do I do? I check my email, my social media and see if there any Pokestops nearby. With my children, Minecraft and YouTube Videos of YouTubers playing Minecraft, are their favorite things to do. When I kick them off screens, it is sometimes not well received (insert sarcastic, down playing tone).
Screen dependency, instant gratification, and the limited occurrences of the face-to-face interactions in today’s world would be topics where I would like to spend more time with, either in this class or a future one.
~Dana
I think that technology has become such a seamless part of our lives that often it takes conscious reflection to recognize the role it plays in our own lives. Over the Christmas break, my boyfriend and I spent 5 days in Northern Saskatchewan visiting his dad. Where his dad lives, there is no cell reception. This meant I was without text messages, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, e-mail, phone calls, and the ability to look something up instantaneously. While it was liberating in the sense that I didn’t need to worry about any of those things, I also found moments where I really wanted to be able to share something with my own family in Ontario or look up a fact or simply spend ten minutes surfing through pictures of my friends’ holidays. Not being able to fact-check something on the spot was probably one of the most frustrating spots, because I hadn’t really thought about how many times a day I use my phone to access a search engine. In this era of “on-demand” information, it was both freeing and frustrating to not have the same information at my fingertips.
Hi Stephanie, I am certain I would have been feeling similar emotions as you did, going “off the wi-fi grid”. It makes me wonder how tech-dependent children would be able to manage in a similar situation— would they adapt quickly or possibly, at all? I think that I use social media quite a bit, but I am certain my usage rates are “small potatoes” compared to some high school students. My friend who is a counselor said she had two different families contact her last week seeking help for on-line addiction concerns for their children. This is an issue that can not be ignored, IMO. ~Dana
You may have already seen the Simon Sinek Youtube video on “Millennials in the Workplace” – it’s been passed around social media recently. At around 3:12 he begins speaking about the addictive nature of social media and technology in social situations i.e. phone at a restaurant during dinner with friends, or during a staff meeting. It is worth the watch if you have not viewed this clip already:
I was hoping the embed link would show up in the comment, but it didn’t, so here’s a direct link: https://youtu.be/hER0Qp6QJNU
Hi Jessica, This guy is so engaging and so spot-on! Thank you for sending me this link and thank you for introducing me to Simon Sinek! Cheers, Dana
Thank you Dana. Your interesting subject header invites us to read this post and the visual image enriches our imagination of your gameplay. The serious questions it raises about screen dependency and the effectiveness of digital technology could be explored in the context of learning math or science in the first assignment and future discussions, Samia