Put Down Your Phones!

[nuke]

If she's home? It'd be creepier than anything else that's been assigned that designation in this thread.


Dad's not in Afghanistan.

He's at the table. Far right. Brown hair, crew cut, green shirt. Holding a silver cell phone.

Photo does provide some real information.

Your seriously fighting over a picture of unknown people. Your posts provide some real information also.

 

[stargazertechie]

That is pathetic. People give their kids phones to quiet them down because they don't want to interact with them. They just want them to shut up and that is okay now in our society? Families playing games and interacting: I spy, 20 questions, favorite ride, remember when, disney trivia, hangman, etc...don't have screaming group of kids. And if your kid cries a fit, you remove them from the restaurant as a consequence, not hand him/her an electronic as a reward.

How is this ANY different than a parent giving a child a book, a picture to color, or one of those little dollar store puzzle books to solve while waiting.

A parent's job is not to entertain their child 24/7. It's to nurture their child. And you know what, if a couple wants to enjoy an hour of peace and quiet at dinner on their vacation, that's their absolute right.

Allowing a child to play is not abusive or neglectful.

 

[SmallWorld71]

My oldest DS is at Jamboree right now and yes has his phone. But more so because he is gone 15 days and I want to check in with him every other day and know he's OK. I'm a worrier otherwise.

DS14 is at the Jamboree right now too.

I've read many, though not all, of the responses and can't help but chuckle as there are those on here who apparently would have been "sad" for my kids and I recently because their perception was so skewed.

In April, DS14, DD10 and I were in WDW having a BLAST. You would have seen DS14 on his ipod touch and me on my cell phone and here is why:

DS14 was taking food pictures and then compiling them during our down times (lines, meals etc...) to send to the DIS as part of the Live Update thread on the restaurant board. Don't feel sorry for us - we were eating the yummy food. (Dole Whip, Cinnamon Roll...mmmmm). Feel bad for all those reading the thread wishing they were there!

I was getting news updates from my mother and DH. While we were in FL, the Boston Marathon Bombings occurred. The day we were in MK was the day that the chase was on and the 2nd suspect was arrested. You would have seen me huddled in an out of the way spot in Liberty Square trying to hear what they were saying while my kids stood nearby. Don't feel sad for us! Feel for all my friends and relatives who were at home living with fear and anxiety while we were at WDW!

Things are often not as they seem.....

That said, there are people who do ignore their kids too much while spending a ton of time using technology. What's to say they wouldn't do so without technology? That's not a tech issue, it's a person issue.

 

[pmaurer74]

I agree that it is used too much but I have my own business and teach online I get no time off officially. There are assignments that need to be graded and clients questions to be answered so I use bus time and line time to work as well as early morning and late night...it is better than not going at all which is the only other option.

Also people may be checking wait time apps or weather radar...I know I was glued to my phone several times with thunderstorms.

 

[Nancyg56]

That is pathetic. People give their kids phones to quiet them down because they don't want to interact with them. They just want them to shut up and that is okay now in our society? Families playing games and interacting: I spy, 20 questions, favorite ride, remember when, disney trivia, hangman, etc...don't have screaming group of kids. And if your kid cries a fit, you remove them from the restaurant as a consequence, not hand him/her an electronic as a reward.

In my day we handed the kids a set of keys to pop in his mouth, or a coloring book and place mat to color on. We dragged a pouch filled with stuff if teh meal was going to be a long one. Parents always brought something to occupy kids.

Now, because that was during the good old days, did that mean were better parents? No. We just used different methods. And while I am talking about those good old, day, since I was a part of those days, you could no more know why the parent handed the kid something to play then than you can today.

You assume a lot when you have not one clue what those folks do on a daily basis. That is what bothers me.

If it wasn't cell phones, it would be something else. If it wasn't sitting in a restaurant, they would complain they were on the phone while walking, or waiting in line, or something else.

People have always formed negative opinions on things done by others that they disagree with, only now, we're "lucky" enough to read about it on the web.

This is no different...some people will just judge and bash things that differ from what they do or how they do it.

I don't get it. My DGD is an only child and she is the only kid when we travel. My DD would probably die laughing if anyone suggested that the reason she gets to use her phone after we eat is because the family chooses not to interact with her.

I am the newest Iphone user in my family and this girl is having the time of her life showing me how to play games, so if anyone sees my nose buried in a phone either my own or as my DGD has her nose in hers, it is because she is either playing a game with me or teaching me to play one. We are engaged, and I like the methods we use.

But, again ... just because you see a family do that in the one moment of your life you see that family, doesn't mean they're all addicted to their electronics and are destined for lives of increased depression, anxiety and suicide.

Yes ... there are true electronics addicts out there. But unless you believe that every person you see drinking a glass of wine is an alcoholic, you shouldn't infer that every person checking their cellphone at dinner is addicted to electronics.

You're talking in extremes.

LOL! I know! All or nothing fo rsome folks.

I think it's better for everyone not to use it at all!



So if given the choice, yes! I'd be happy if they only used it while sitting.. So as not to hurt others..

Cannot use it when I'm sitting. New rules I guess.

I think it is the self righteousness that most people object to. Posters who find it so sad that other families don't act the way they do imply that their way is the right way and that everyone else is wrong. The other families aren't as happy, well adjusted, supportive as they are, isn't it sad......Well, no, those families don't seem sad, just different. My worldview doesn't dictate that others are inferior to me if they do things differently.

These technology threads always turn out this way. Our gadgets are blamed for making us less connected to each other. Then our gadgets are blamed for making us too connected to each other.

I know. It is the sanctimonious comments that I don't understand. I know that parenting styles differ, but who am I to say what is appropriate for every family? My DH seldom can accompany us so we spend a lot of time sending him photos or more often, sending them to my friend, who then shares them with him. She also knows how much I miss my girls when we are away, so she sends me pics, and has tehm call me often. I drop everything for those calls, and stop what I am doing when she texts me pics. These girls are my family too, and I don't stop interacting with tehm simply becasue I am 1500 miles away.

 

[OnlyDisney]

I only had the stomach to read the first page. There seems to be a lot of people who get upset if they see another family vacationing in a way that is not according to their standards....

What happened to when kids colored at dinner? I'm not exactly a kid anymore, but I usually ask for kids menus to color when out at a restaurant. Nowadays, most kids are found playing games on the ipad/iphone at dinner. That's unacceptable to me, and I think to have a true vacation get away, all internet and communication should be very limited/rarely used.

Isn't it great that you make a family rule that you are only allowed to color and not use ipad/iphone at dinner, but that other families can make their own rules too.

My personal response when I see that kind of thing is that I don't judge others because I don't know what their situation might be. Maybe the mom or dad is a surgeon and needs to communicate frequently about patients; maybe (like my DH) he runs a major network of automation equipment and hundreds of people could lose hours of their paycheck if he's not reachable. Dinner's the same - Disney is a place where kids are often overly-tired and off their schedules - if a parent chooses to head off a major tantrum by allowing a little screen time, who am I to judge? I don't know how their day has gone, when their kids woke up that day, etc.

And this is coming from a mother of three whose kids get 0 hours of screen time (including computers) a week during the school year and 2 hours a week in the summer. So it's not a free-for all here, but the rules change even for us on vacation.

There is no difference between coloring at dinner or playing a game on a cell phone/ipad. Both of those activities keep the kids occupied.

My child is past the age of coloring, and we have a no cell phone rule at the table, but it doesn't bother me if other parents have their children use them to play games.

As long as people's actions aren't directly impacting me and my family, it doesn't matter what others are doing to keep themselves occupied. They aren't on my vacation and they aren't spending my money, so they get to do whatever they want with their free time (within legal limits).

This happened to us not that long ago...mom, dad and 2ish year old daughter. She was sitting at a local restaurant playing on an iPhone. I assumed it was mom's or dad's and didnt think much of it. Throughout the meal though, both mom and dad pulled out their own iphones! The kid had her own iphone and she was 2! I love living in Washington DC, people have a lot of disposable cash!

Wow, there sure is a lot of judgement in this statement.

If she was 2 I'm sure it wasn't a real phone. Our son gets to play with an old phone of ours that has some games on it. It can only do games so It's great for our older child. And it might not have been a phone at all. I've seen game systems that look just like a phone.

 

[stargazertechie]

.

I think NY times had an article several years ago about "screen time" and the average adult was spending 8 1/2 hours a DAY in front of a screen. (TV, Cell phone, computer).

Do the math, who wants to get to the end of their life and think "I spent over 220,000 hours behind a screen"

That doesn't surprise me in the least. I know I spend at least 8 if not 9 or 10 hours a day on my laptop at work. Add in the time I use to catch up on my personal life on my commute home (I take public transit, no worries!) and that puts me at at least 11 hours a day.

 

[Cyrano]

Time to close this down.....quietly to sleep.

Sent from my iPhone at WDW