New Blog site

I wanted the freedom to post personal information seperate from posting tied to my paper Talk About Town.  So I am seperating my blog.  I will use this site for writing about my personal thoughts and events.  If you would like to read expanded articles from Talk About Town and information and updates about my paper, I encourage you to visit the new blogsite http://www.talk-about-town.blogspot.com/ or my website at http://www.talk-about-town.com/

I hope if you live in the Parker County area, you will look for the paper and become a regular reading.
warmest regards,

Technology, Communication and our Children

I was at dinner with my husband when I noticed a little girl maybe 4 years old playing a game on a cell phone. I was amazed at how proficiently she moved around that computer.  She did not seem to notice the conversation and activity going on between the adults at the table as she played her game.   In last 15 years, computers have made our lives much easier.  We can find information in a few seconds on almost anything; access our bank accounts and cash, find our way around town, practically anything our mind can conceive a computer can do. 

There are lots of wonderful things computers have done for us.  My 5 year old grandson has already developed keyboard skills, some reading and comprehension; he can perform many complex functions with technology better than some adults. While I am proud and impressed with how smart he is, I think as good stewards of raising our children we must also make sure they are not spending so much face time with electronic devices like computers, cell phones, and televisions that they fail to develop the other necessary social skills that they will need as they grow into adulthood.  I think its important children receive an adequate amount of social stimulation to properly develop skills such as oral and visual communication and learn how to handle themselves in social situations. 

 The computer isolates us from face to face communication where we learn skills like reading of body language, facial expression, and social manners.    I find a lot of teenagers have trouble with eye contact and meaningful conversations of any length; they struggle to talk but they have no problem texting.  According to Dr. Andie, well known family and child psychologist, “The rules of social engagement have changed over the last few years and in my opinion the role of technology in our society is a major factor for this. Think about it… It's only been a relatively short few years that texting has become the mode of choice for communicating. I recently read that the typical teenager sends or receives more than 1,700 text messages a month while making or receiving just 230 calls. Children today aren't "speaking" they are "wording"! You ask the question if texting, IMing and other outgrowths of technology can affect children of today. The answer is yes.”

When I was growing up, we relied on the library and the family set of encyclopedias for all our research.  We had to write out papers in long hand and were responsible for accurate spelling and grammar.  Computers are so intelligent today our children are not learning some necessary skills such as writing and spelling.  They have learned to use acronyms, short spelling (OMG!), or spell phonically (waz tat).  Sentence structure is even critiqued by the computer.  Recently, one of the local high school English teachers had her students write essays for submission as Hometown Hero’s to my paper.  I was quite surprised at the lack of writing and spelling skills at the high school level.  I struggled to understand exactly what they were trying to communicate through their words.  I had to speak to almost every one of them to interpret their stories.

Additionally, teamwork and social interaction skills are not developed with computer gaming like with traditional sports or even board games.   Simple tasks such as sharing, learning to take instruction, and/or following a set of rules.

With this being said, computers have given our children many wonderful advantages to learning and knowledge that we did not have while growing up. Technology is here to stay, so  I think what’s important is that we as parents stayed involved with what our children.  Review their work, discuss with them what they are learning, know how they are using this technology.  You should also be aware that kids are exposed to some not so good things on the computer such as cyber bullying, sexting, and access to inappropriate material and this should be monitored.  You should have your computers in an open area so you can see sights they are visiting.  There is software to monitor and control sites your child can visit on the internet or monitor the amount of time they spend on certain sights such as social networks.

As adults, we should limit the amount of time spent in front of electronic devises (this includes TV, gaming, cell phones, DVD, etc) and spend some time helping our children develop the other necessary skills they will need as they mature.  We set the example.  As I was going into the pharmacy a grown woman came out of the door and walked right into me because she was busy texting and not looking where she was walking.  She didn’t say she was sorry or even acknowledge running into me, she just kept on walking, face glued to her phone.  We also need to remember our children learn more by what they see than by what you say.

Strive to offer your children a balance of human interaction as well as technology.  Parents and children should put down cell phones, turn off computers and television and talk over dinner, have family game night. Turn off the radio and DVD player and talk while driving in the car. Not only will you help your children develop communication skills, you will find your relationships will be stronger.

Envy

Did you know that envy is the enemy of gratitude? We see things with our eyes everyday that we feel envy for, like a new car, a bigger home, someones job. Or maybe you envy a person for how they look, how popular they are, or what they possess. If you let envy get hold of you, before long you can forget to be grateful for what you do have. It is hard to fight off envy in today's world. We are inundated with all types of media that creates dissatisfaction in what we currently have, to then create a desire for what we don't have, it's called marketing. But many of us buy into the marketing ploy and we find ourselves in debt, still having envy for other things we don't have.
Maybe you think you would be better in some way if you could lose weight, change your hair color, have a little plastic surgery. I am surprised how we envy the rich and famous. There are a number of television shows that report the daily activities of the rich and famous. What party they attended, who they date, where they shop. We forget over the years what happened to those we envied like Marilyn Monroe, John Belushi, Michael Jackson, and Elvis Presley. For I was envious at the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked Ps73:3 The bi-product of envy is grief, bitterness, and ignorance. Envy is short term, it's time for us to get a new perspective.
The key to gratitude is to be satisfied with the portion you have been given. Contentment is desiring what you already have. You need to enjoy what you already have, family, friends, your work, the food you eat, the clothes on your back. You also need to accept that you don't need to spend your life working to get all the things you think you need. I don't know anyone who had a U-haul follow them to the grave. Once you stop desiring all you don't have and start enjoying what you do have, you will see you are truly blessed and rich beyond your imagination. What or who are you envious of and why?