Good grief, can’t we be nice to one another? It’s time for a return to civility. It’s time to revisit such antiquated notions as politeness, good manners, kindness, even – dare we say it – gentleness. And for goodness’ sake, it’s time we parents pass that on to our teenagers, if it’s not too late.
Rule by gizmo
We live in an in-your-face world. We live in isolation. Social media has allowed us to be bold and brazen with our fingertips – to mouth off – to gather our courage from our sofas. Every man, woman and child is an island. We cling to our e-devices and fool ourselves into thinking that we are socially more engaged than ever before.
We’re not. We’re consumed by gizmos. We’ve been chewed and swallowed. And we’re socially disengaged.
Tom Tozer and Bill Black pose for a portrait Monday, March 28, 2016 at the Chattanooga Times Free Press.Holy dumbed down, Batman!
Well, OK, on one hand we are engaged by way of keypad and touchscreen. On the other hand, we have become so adept at it that we don’t see any real reason for forming words with our lips. But when they must form words, our teenagers are more in-your-face, more abrupt and abrasive, than ever before. When confronted with a public appearance, they interact as if they’re still on the sofa at home. Bang! Bop! Wham! (Reminds us of the old “Batman” TV show.) Fast. Efficient. Rude.
Our e-devices have permitted us to communicate by syllables, acronyms and two-letter words. Let’s not forget the heartwarming :). All we can say is YKS! WWJD! SOS!
The day the Earth stood silent
Invite your teenager to hold a moratorium on e-device use for just one day. You, too. Let’s just try it and see if it’s a day the Earth stood still if the body snatchers emerge from their cocoons and take over. We can hear Rod Serling already. Remember him?
You’re standing among a civilization that is frozen in time. They put down their e-toys, and suddenly they found themselves devoid of words and thoughts. Their minds were left on miniature screens that lie on desks, reside in pockets or are suspended from waists. What was once a thriving society, with office chatter around the water cooler and over the backyard fence, has devolved into scrawls and scrolls on glass plates. This once conversant civilization no longer talks or turns the pages of books or newspapers. Their gods reside in cyberspace. They have erected e-idols and now stand idle in a distant app called The Twilight Zone.
Yes, we know. Silly. Crazy. Outrageous. LOL.
Tom Tozer and Bill Black are authors of “Dads2Dads: Tools for Raising Teenagers.” Like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter at Dads2Dadsllc. Contact them at tomandbill@Dads2Dadsllc.com.