Technology.... don't even get me started!

Sometimes I wonder how I would get by without my cell phone or laptop....

and sometimes I long for the days of my youth when my friends tried to call me and got a busy signal.

A decade ago when my kids first started instant messaging during homework I thought, "wow, my mother wouldn't let me talk on the phone during homework, except to check the assignment or something". Pretty quickly it went from one or two "im's" to having a dozen or so bubbles at the bottom of the screen representing different conversations. Well, you could hardly call them conversations, sometimes they were the typed versions of various grunts... things like yo, yeah, whatup, nuttin. Then came the secret code like gtg - which meant "got to go" or pos - which meant "parent over shoulder". Still seemed sorta harmless. Then we were lol and rofl and who could forget idk... soon to gain notoriety when used by a grannie in a cell phone commercial. Oh, did I neglect to mention that this language was also being used on cell phones too? Sorry, technology... I told you, "Don't even get me started".

Now I'm guessing most parents have had the talk... you know the one, where we mostly say things like "really?" and "are you kidding me?" especially after learning some of the more distateful abbreviations..... let's just leave it at that.

I'll tell you what concerns me the most is the SPEED at which things happen. Gone is the opportunity to think before doing.... or is it?

Maybe young people need to perfectly tanned, have pearly white teeth, wear the latest trends, apply their make-up with high quality products because their lives are a photo shoot!

Maybe we've got it all wrong. Young girls aren't worried about trying looking like a model, just looking better than the people next to you. Come on, kids (ages 12-30; I can say that because I am 100) have over 1,000 friends on their social network pages and at least that many photos as well.

Idon't know how we got so far off track. Now with SEXTING, I wonder, can't we all slow down a little?

I nearly gagged when Barbara Walters said a couple of weeks ago that schools should be teaching that if you forward a SEXT, in this case a nude picture of your ex who is a minor, you have to be carefule because you could end up on being charged as a Sex Offender and listed on the registry.

Sadly, she wasn't worried about the self esteem of a young lady who felt she needed to send her boyfriend a picture of her nude.

Pretty soon you won't wait with nervous anticipation for your child's first steps or first words..... they'll be in school when they take them. How else will there be enough time to teach the 3 R's as well as what society expects them to teach?

So maybe in the future when a mother's maternity leave is over, the baby will start school.
Why not?
Some people think they should learn to tie their shoes at school, really, I swear.

Let's see....they should learn the alphabet at school...... learn to write their name..... learn their address..... stop, drop & roll......and then one day, teach them how to buy groceries...... balance a checkbook.....apply for a credit card..... fill out a job application....... have sex, or not........ use birth control, or not...... love..... abstinence....... self esteem...... fair fighting, etc.
Well, I suppose the next thing will be a course in how to book travel reservations.

Anyway, back to technology.
I find myself saying the same thing over and over....."Just because we can does not mean we should".
Is there someone you can talk to about making better choices .... with the technology they have?

Just a thought.

Sheila