Proof that cell phones are making our kids retarded

[Glockster69]

Talk. What's that? We only txt.

Yes, talking FTF (oops) has declined.

Goes to another thread where people (mostly male) hold a door open for others (mostly female) and there is no response / reply. Kinda sad in my opinion.

 

[Glockster69]

.

 

[TrailDust]

Me: "Why don't you let Leslie know you're here by ringing the $#%^$% doorbell?!"
Teenager: "Okay, bye Dad... Luv ya!"

I shit you not, this actually happened.

I stood in line once and watched my cousin call her daughter to ask her a question.....while both were standing in the same line literally right next to each other as the daughter was already yakking to a friend on her cell phone. IMO, this is where abuse of technology is detrimental to the overall health of society. Soapbox stand over....

 

[thunderstruck]

As we evolve as a society the way we communicate is going to change there is no way around that. You have to admit that we've came a hell of a long way from the smoke signal or even the letter though a postal carrier. How many people do you think thought sending a letter was crazy or idiotic when you could just go see the person face to face and talk to them sometime? Things are going to change in the way our society operates and talks to each other over time. You don't have to like it but it's going to happen.

In a few seconds I have have a text message punched up on my iphone and have it zapped around the world to someone on the other side of the planet in the time it takes to pour a glass of jack and coke. All that from a device that fits in the palm of my hand.

We see fight against change everywhere. Recently the Marine Corps changed uniform policy requiring sleeves down year round instead of up during the summer and down during the winter. Around the same time they slashed tuition assistance benefits in half for Marines. Guess which one gets more attention? Sleeves down......it actually made front page on the Marine Corps times and it's all you hear about at work now days.

Couldn't have said it better.

 

[TrailDust]

As we evolve as a society the way we communicate is going to change there is no way around that. You have to admit that we've came a hell of a long way from the smoke signal or even the letter though a postal carrier. How many people do you think thought sending a letter was crazy or idiotic when you could just go see the person face to face and talk to them sometime? Things are going to change in the way our society operates and talks to each other over time. You don't have to like it but it's going to happen.

In a few seconds I have have a text message punched up on my iphone and have it zapped around the world to someone on the other side of the planet in the time it takes to pour a glass of jack and coke. All that from a device that fits in the palm of my hand.

We see fight against change everywhere. Recently the Marine Corps changed uniform policy requiring sleeves down year round instead of up during the summer and down during the winter. Around the same time they slashed tuition assistance benefits in half for Marines. Guess which one gets more attention? Sleeves down......it actually made front page on the Marine Corps times and it's all you hear about at work now days.

I saw the issue you're describing while I was at the checkout line at Camp Pendleton last Thursday. Some priorities are really messed up, aren't they?

Regarding advancing technology/communications that you mentioned, there are a number of problems associated with that which are detrimental to a healthy society. Personally, I find (mostly under 30 year olds) people who walk around with ear buds in, dicking around with an mp3 player, Ipad, phone, whatever the device may be, and ignoring the world around them as tantamount to saying "**** you!" to the rest of the world. And Facebook and Twitter, the "social" networks? They are the antithesis of social. Getting face-to-face with someone, that's social. Bragging about "friending" your 5,000th person is not socializing, it's just shallow competition in a narcissistic society. IMO, technology is outstripping our society's ability to cope with new devices, services, etc.

 

[jfrey]

I raised holy *&## with my youngest son for texting his girlfriend who lived in the house directly behind us. She would sit in her bedroom and wave at him while he texted her. He has one of those phones that will do everything but wash your face and he never answers when I call him. I still hold the ace in the hole because all the kids phones are in my name and I can cut them off any time I want. There really ought to be a law against kids under the age of 21 even having a cell phone. The whole thing has gotten out of hand.

 

[Glockster69]

You go from saying you can cut them off in one sentence to there ought to be a law in the next?

Not my chillin's, best not poke that pig anymore.

 

[TrailDust]

There really ought to be a law against kids under the age of 21 even having a cell phone. The whole thing has gotten out of hand.

Thing of it is society has now created the desire, the supposed need to have to have a cell phone for kids, otherwise they're helpless and vulnerable without them. This is not a rhetorical questions when I ask: How the hell did any of us over 40 ever survive our childhoods, and for that matter how did any human beings survive before the age of cell phones? The answer is we did just fine. In fact, we weren't a bunch of weak slobs sitting around the house texting 500 times a day. We actually walked over to friends houses to visit with them. I think all this is to the detriment of our kids and our society as a whole. A cell phone and it's usage should be meted out by parents just like soft drinks, candy, or TV time. Oh, wait, what am I saying? Parents today don't mete those out either. Frickin' sad....

 

[shortround]

Bravo!

Brilliant.

Were you the one driving that 1976 Ford Pinto?

Be well.

 

[TheDan]

I watched in disbelief while my neighbor's kids talked to each other by text message while sitting next to each other in the back seat of their car.

That's probably because they were talking about the driver

I really hate talking on the phone. I recently cut off the voice to my cell. All I have is unlimited texting. Costs me only $15/month! Text messages to me seem more efficient and less invasive.

I say don't blame the technology. Blame the idiots using it. They aren't irresponsible because of it. They'd be irresponsible with anything.

 

[TrailDust]

I say don't blame the technology. Blame the idiots using it. They aren't irresponsible because of it. They'd be irresponsible with anything.

+1

It's symptomatic of a much larger problem, which is basically children raising children. When was the last time you saw a kid actually drinking milk in a restaurant instead of soda? The fact that child osteoporosis--and old person's medical condition for those who may not know--has become prevalent due to lack of proper parenting is a sad indictment.

On a directly related subject, I made friends with this guy from Uruguay who is working in the United States for a time before he returns to his home country, and I asked him what was his biggest impression about the difference between life in Uruguay and here in the U.S. He said, "I think the biggest difference is what you here in America call traditional life. In Uruguay we have the same technology you do, but we don't treat it the same way. Our kids all don't have cell phones even though they could, and they still play outside and don't play videos and things. It's a simpler life."

That was his actual statement. Sounds like life when I was a kid, and I'm glad I had that life because I'd hate to be a kid today. That's how I feel at least.