August 16, 2025
I keep hearing about how tablets and phones keep young people from seeing what is around them. A parent wrote into a parenting column to complain that his kids were on vacation and surrounded by grandeur, but would only look at their screens.
I’ve got news for you: I was the same way with books, back in the day.
My father, driving us through the scenic wonders of Kansas and Nebraska back in the Dark Ages, complained that we kids were reading books instead of looking at the scenery. (In our defense, anyone who has traveled across the flatlands of Kansas and Nebraska will side with the kids in this story.)
I know people who went on a cruise to the Caribbean; the wife complained that her husband stayed in the room and watched TV. (This was before cell phones or tablets had been invented.) They weren’t retirees who had seen and done a lot; this was a couple in their 30s, and it was their first cruise. But he liked his screen time.
Do I think all the screen time is good for kids? No. Do I think that they should look up at the world around them? Yes.
But is the behavior completely unheard of?
Not at all. The lack of interaction with the world is the same; it’s just that the medium is different. So, take away the screens with my blessing, and have the kids look around; just don’t think that this is the first generation who doesn’t interact with their surroundings.
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