Okay, I confess. I’m part of the Mature/Silent Generation born between 1927 and 1945—in my case much closer to 1945. Understandably, some of the younger Generation Y/Millennials and the Generation Z/Boomlets may not relate to people older than 30, but there is one thing we have in common.
Computers and social media are herding us all into a cage of isolation.
What do I mean by that? Well, just yesterday instead of calling my cousin to see how his mom, my Aunt Dorothy, was doing I sent him a text. Why? Because typing is easier and quicker than initiating a conversation. And as a practicing people pleaser, I didn’t want to tie up my very busy cousin either. Instead of getting emotionally involved, I typed my message, waited a minute, read his response and knew what I needed to know. Then I was free to move on to the next thing on my electronic do-to-list.
Thankfully, over the years, I had developed effective communication skills. I can form sentences, utilize meaningful eye contact, and demonstrate proper body language. Sadly, some of Generation Y/Millennials and Generation Z/Boomlets may not be able to claim some of those basic interactive skills.
According to Marketingteacher.com, not only the Millennials but Generation Z/Boomlets, those born after 2001 including the Tweens, age 8-12 years old and Toddler/Elementary school age share the following 2009 statistics:
61 percent of children 8-17 have televisions in their rooms.
35 percent have video games.
14 percent have a DVD player.
4 million will have their own cell phones. They have never known a world without computers and cell phones. Children from the age of four and five, old enough to play on the computer, become less interested in toys and begin to desire electronics such as cell phones and video games.
And that my friends lead to a growing problem. If you can break away from your cell phone or video game for 5 minutes and 41 seconds, the following video will show better than I could tell.
Write this down for the next generation so people not yet born will praise God: “God looked out from his high holy place; from heaven he surveyed the earth. He listened to the groans of the doomed, he opened the doors of their death cells”(Psalm 102;18-20 MSG).
