I saw a child, maybe three or four years old, getting out of a car with a smartphone in his hand. His father gathered bags as the kid walked with his head down, eyes on the screen the entire time from the car to the house. I was walking by and wasn’t being nosey, just saw it play out before me as I was walking up a hill.  The father never spoke to the child. He went about his business of gathering a backpack, etc. without uttering a word to his son.

Another time, when my guy and I were at a restaurant, there was a cute baby in a high chair with an electronic tablet screen on an easel-type thing on the table. The child stared at the screen. The people, I’m assuming were the parents, had their smartphones out. There was no attention paid to the child. Then a person from the place went to the baby and sang Happy Birthday. The baby just turned one. The child looked at the lady singing and smiled. After the woman left, the baby returned to the screen, and the parents returned to theirs.

It made me sad. Again, not being nosey. Sitting across from them in a small place made it difficult not to see this. Okay, yes, I’m a curious person, but is that nosey? I don’t judge. I observe without judgment. It sparks my creativity and interest. I’m a deep thinker – I chose to earn a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy because I am like other philosophers with lots of good thoughts about life.

Ever since I could remember, I’ve had the best interest of people in mind and have been a respectful, kind, honest, loyal, compassionate, empathic, and sympathetic person. And I’m a sensitive person who feels the energy around me and understands people. I wanted to explain myself, so I’m not misjudged. I’ve gotten misjudged because I didn’t show who I am, all of me. This blog is honest. There’s no bullshit going to be happenin’ here – just letting you know.

Our children are the future of our race. Think about that. Our future is in the hands of children who watch a screen for amusement and entertainment, and I believe, have an addiction and need for it. Once in a store, I witnessed a child in the stroller getting a smartphone taken off of him for some reason I don’t know. Man, oh man, I think the store walls rattled from the scream coming out of that tiny mouth. The mother had no choice but to return the phone to the child. I wonder if a child would scream like that for a bottle or a hug from his mama.

How about we put the magic screen away for a while each day and set good examples for the little ones? Let’s get our needs met with another person, not a screen. Give a person your attention, whether it’s a person standing behind you in line at a store or a co-worker walking down the hall. Look them in the eye and smile. It’s sad to see so many with their heads down, looking at their phones, walking down the street, and not acknowledging someone walking by them. Does this concern anyone else? Am I only one of a few who wants to preserve humanity?

It’s not rocket science to understand that if we put a computer into the hands of a child, they will soak up every ounce of information in their tiny forming brains and act according to what they learn. Are they learning about social interaction, or how to feel real human emotions like empathy and sympathy? I don’t think so. And that is not the stuff we got innately. Children mirror what they are taught. The screen in front of them doesn’t offer the type of input they require to grow up being social with human emotions.

I hope this doesn’t come across as a rant. I merely want to bring awareness to this situation that has the potential to affect our humanity. I want to reach out to parents of little ones to ask them to make better choices for their children in the long run, not just in the short term to keep them occupied. Do we really want what’s coming out of a screen to raise our children, and influence them with programs and games that were not created to instill values, or foster human emotions like empathy and compassion?

Please, let’s limit the time children (and us as adults) get on screens and spend more time with one another one-on-one, eye to eye, to get back to caring about one another. Care about your children. They are remarkable creatures who need to be taught and exposed to love, and empathy – heck, how to be a person, not a clone of a machine’s output.

Whether it’s a two-year-old or a 75-year-old grumpy geezer, and all ages in between, there’s probably a smartphone with them. As people, intelligent species who have free will, somehow, we have allowed a machine to control, entertain and absorb us, our humanness.

We can stop it. That’s what being human is about – making mistakes, learning, and evolving to improve things.

I write this because I care. I pay attention and absorb everything around me. If something strikes me as wrong, I acknowledge it to try to make the world a better place, not to judge or think haughty thoughts that I’m a better human being.

I know what’s good for us to thrive as happy people. This is my platform to share my thoughts. I hope some folks enjoy this blog. Thank you to the wonderful supporters of this blog endeavor, who read it and have elected to come along on this journey. I feel blessed and am so appreciative!

To looking into eyes and showing emotion,

Francesca