To think we're going to have a generation of adults unable to socialise?

[Ezlo]

By that I mean in restaurants. I see so many kids glued to their iPods in restaurants, barely uttering a word to the rest of their family. The future unsettles me.

There is such a change in communications over the years though. Mobile phones/social media have been a godsend in many ways. When I went to uni I used the payphone to call home once a week. It was a bit miserable. Now the kids pop on a text/WhatsApp/Instagram any time. I love them sharing the joy, being able to let me know how they feel, being able to boost them if they need it. Connecting with teens and older is much easier. You do get some good along with the bad.

I honestly think it makes some people feel superior to criticise others.

I love the fact that I can carry HUNDREDS of books with me.

Totally agree about the relative costs of things. I was reading an article today about Shein, with various young people interviewed and some saying they had to buy from Shein because they couldn't afford anything else . And we're not talking about people who are on the breadline and wearing rags, but people who just want more clothes.

"Emily, 21, spends around £20 a month at Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein, turning to it whenever she needs a new party or holiday outfit... Emily has considered stopping buying from Shein due to its labour practices, but says everywhere else "is way too expensive". "

People have never really enjoyed being yapped at on the bus.

I think our consumerism has grotesque these days. I probably buy maybe 5 items of clothing a year plus a couple of gig shirts. I don’t have a pair of jeans less than 4 years old. The last piece of clothing I bought was a dress last summer for and interview. We moved house so I bought some new furniture as it was a bigger house - people seemed genuinely surprised at us taking our old stuff with us. - My parents house still has the furniture from the 1960s they got as wedding gift (new mattresses and 3 piece suite. They’ve been in that house 60 years only had 2 kitchens and recreated once. All good quality so it lasts. Some of the stuff in there belonged to their parents.

We need to stop buying shit, realise we’re being sold a pip with what’s “in” and what’s “out”.

our whole mindset needs to change to focus on meeting people’s needs rather than wants

But, that is just going to take a small amount of the day, plus give them something in common to discuss. Mobile technology is very different due to its constant flow of information, algorithms designed to addict us and interactive natures

Those iPads and tablets have another purpose for many though.

My youngest has never spoken (a birth injury which has resulted in delays in all areas of development) however she now has a iPad that goes everywhere with us.

Yes she sits and watches films on it which keeps the shouting down. But it has another purpose. It's programmed as a communication device. Getting that iPad was a lifeline for us. Gone was the frustration of not knowing what she wants. And now we have a form of communication that we didn't have before.

Although we do still use makaton and PECS which were our first attempts to have communication with her. Having the device that has AAC software has opened up a lot entire new world for us in terms of communication

I managed it at the breakfast table after positing the reasoned argument that my parents read the paper. Unfortunately, my grandparents weren't too impressed when I did it at their breakfast table.

It seems like you're conflating mobile technology with social media. They're not the same, and unless you're peering over someone's shoulder you really have no idea if they are doom-scrolling Tik-Tok, reading a scientific journal, chatting with friends (who they actually have something in common with), making notes, arranging appointments etc etc etc.

All part of the sane problem, constantly doing something on your phone.

What is the problem exactly?

I honestly don't understand why people get so annoyed about other people using their mobile phones.

I use my phone for pretty much everything - doing the food shop, paying the bills, sorting the window cleaner, running my business, having meetings with my accountant or my book-keeper, ordering medication, reading books, doing research, doing maths, messaging family overseas - I even have online therapy using my phone sometimes.

Without a phone, those things would take a lot longer and likely cost me a lot more money. It's convenient, it's quick, it's easy.

By all means don't use a screen if you disagree with them, but all this "screens are bad" just reminds me of people complaining about books 200 years ago because they didn't want people to read immoral things or "get ideas".

Some deluded people just like to think that they have some control over what other people do. It's what they would like most, to dictate and achieve compliance according to their own narrow views.

It is as pitiful as it is annoying.

And @Dutch1e - research has shown numerous issues including thinning of the cerebral cortex that will affect decision making and problem solving.

Reduced development of the brain when compared with real life interations

Stimulation of the fight/flight response leading to repaising of cortisol levels which can have multiple effects inc on metabolism

issues around sleep

and lots of others

It's not just kids,it's the parents as well. Rarely a day goes by when I don't see a parent on the bus,glued to their phone and totally ignoring their child.

I fully agree with that. Nothing wrong with devices as they stand. The problem is the "wrong kind of use" which is exactly the same problem with lots of things, i.e. back in the 70s, there were loads of porno mags circulated in our crap comp school - it was obviously wrong to have free circulation within teenagers, but it is what it is. Most of the pupils didn't go on to be warped because of the porn they saw (which included the "bad" stuff), although no doubt a few did. As you say, people said the same about books - let's not forget Hitler and his book-burning! Or go back further and the catholic church insisting on religious scripts being written in Latin so the "average Joe Public" couldn't read them and would rely on clergy to tell them what the clergy wanted them to be told! It's ALL down to the parents to limit and control device use - saying "devices are bad" is very lazy thinking.

But what makes you think it's any of your business? That's what I don't get.

If I want to use a screen and risk messing up my sleep or whatever, that's my business. I'm an adult and it's not up to anyone else how I use a device that I pay for and that's legal to use and own.

200 years ago, people criticised books. Not even 100 years ago, they complained about rock music. Now it's screens. In another 50 years, it will be some other new form of technology that hasn't been invented yet.

As someone who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism, screens have massively transformed my life for the better. I am so glad to live in a time where I can access all the information I can - and for such a small amount of money too. It's incredible when you think about it.

All this "screens are bad" is, IMO, lazy thinking and just a quick way to judge someone for something you personally have very little idea about.

Exactly. It wasn't so long ago when the government wanted to ban rock music...

The whole "screens are bad" shtick is lazy criticism for people who don't seem to be able to realise that very few things are all good or bad. Life just isn't like that.

Do parents need to interact with their child 24/7? They may have just interacted with their child for most of the morning/afternoon and are simply having a break on the bus.

It's definitely a control thing.

Lots of people don't like the idea of people using screens and not interacting with them as well, it's odd to me. It's like they get personally offended by the fact that you'd rather scroll your phone than talk to them, lol.

That is false equivalency though, I suggest you look into the effect screen time has on the brain. It’s not a moral crusade it’s looking at the physical implications

Agree

My lot aren't allowed devices in restaurants etc

And don't get me started on babies and toddlers staring at them in pushchairs 😢

I don't need to look, I've read plenty of research.

I also suspect there is very little on this planet that doesn't have a negative impact on the brain if used incorrectly - from our diets, to the amount of caffeine we drink, to the volume we listen to music, to the size of our TV's, to our jobs and our commutes.

But, as with everything, it's all about perspective, and I find the blanket arguments of "screens are bad" to be lazy and pretty ignorant.

I'd like to see some of that research.

Not that I'm determined to say you're wrong, I'm very much in the case-by-case camp of screen usage, but because I've seen some very narrow and specific research extrapolated in ways that are inaccurate at best, and, at worst, a thin justification for strong emotional reactions to the new and unfamiliar.