A Devastating Failure to Communicate!

As a writer, I do my best to stay attuned to the world around me. That is where I draw my characters and their traits from, as well as everything else that will make it into their and the novel’s universe. So, it’s not hard for me to detect a difference between the children of the 1960s (when I grew up) and today’s children. And in too many cases, it’s a frightening, dark difference! So, I’m going a little dark today!

What I’ve learned is that not all potential addictions are treated equally by parents. For instance, what sane parent would insert a cigarette between their child’s lips, light it up, then tell them to inhale deeply and feel good? Nor would they set a glass before their kid, fill it with hard liquor, then tell them to raise it to their lips and enjoy the buzz. And most rational parents would never take a needle, stab their child in the arm, deliver poison into their bloodstreams, and tell them to have a nice trip.

However, how many modern parents DID, and still DO, put a cellphone into their impressionable child’s hands, show them how to use it with scant oversight, and release them to the damaging control of these electronic babysitters? And now, too many parents refuse to take responsibility for their offspring’s mental underdevelopment and deep social issues that, for too many, undermine what once was their bright futures!

Look, I’m not beating up on our nation’s parents. Our children also learn from their siblings, peers, teachers, and celebrities. We’re all guilty to some degree. And I don’t care who the lawyers sue, be it rich corporations like Facebook or billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, because lawyers are going to do what lawyers always do: Take money from somebody, put a nice chunk of it into their pockets, and give the rest to the “offended”.

Cellphones, when used improperly, can promote isolation, even though we think of them as a worthy social construct. We human beings have never been more alone when we’re self-absorbed in our handheld gods in devastating echo chambers.

I simply think parents, by God’s design, are the most integral partner to a child’s growth. Therefore, we need to sharpen our parenting skills and take responsibility for our children’s maturation and future—before the next great, destructive addiction comes along!

“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7 NIV)