I want to time-travel to 2007.
2023-me-with-teenaged children needs to save 2007-me-with-babies. Oh, to cross the time barrier, find myself, and warn myself!
What I wish I could tell me, the me of sixteen years ago:
“Sinister technology is about to show up, and the kids are going to need you to protect them from it. The culprit is the iPhone, a mini-computer that slips in one’s pocket. It seems cool, interesting, innocuous. But don’t let Steve Jobs deceive you. He stands there in his black turtleneck and jeans and claims to have the best and brightest Apple design, the must-have of the year. Well, Apples are not ALWAYS healthy.
This technology has superhuman power. It entertains crying children in a moment. It orders Lulu Lemon yoga pants. It creates a playlist of 80’s music. It competes in Scrabble, defeating most humans most of the time. It delivers a brain break. But not the good kind.
This technology is—and here I use strong language—destroying minds. Attention spans are severely decreased. Imagine how this is hurting school kids. They cannot learn like they used to. They literally are not as smart as they were. And sadly, everywhere one looks, faces are stuck to their screens. A family of five dines at a burger joint, yet rather than chatting, laughing, or even arguing, they are each watching the world on their own tiny phones. Even the parents can hardly engage in eye-to-eye conversation. It is pitiful. It is pathetic. It is an addiction. A legal, socially-acceptable addiction.
You yourself cannot stop this. But you can slow it down. You can shield your kids from it, at least for a while. Give their brains a chance to form, unimpeded by screen time. They will be furious at you. “All our friends have iPhones! We are the only ones who do not! You are so mean. This is not fair.” Let them be angry. Better angry than distracted, unfocused, and intellectually compromised. Make them wait as long as you possibly can. And then make them wait longer. You are Mama Bear. Protect them.”