Does technology bring families closer or does it push them farther apart? Arlene Pellicane, co-author of Growing Up Social, discusses the effect technology family cohesiveness.
“I think technology has the potential to be used to bring families together, but by and large today, it is driving families apart.
Studies show that the average American child spends seven hours or more per day in front of a screen. With children spending more and more time wrapped up in technology, there is no room for families to connect.
“How can a family be close, bond, talk, and do activities together if the average child is spending that much time in front of a screen? It’s just impossible.”
Unfortunately, it’s not always the children who have their head buried in some form of technology.
“How can children be close to us if they look at us and we’re answering an email, then we’re answering a text, and then we’re checking our stock quotes?”
So often we buy devices with the expectation that they will somehow connect us.
“When you look inside the home, everyone is alone, under the same roof with their same device, with whatever personalized entertainment they need.”
We might have good intentions of Skyping grandma or doing our math homework with our devices, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
In reality, God has already given us everything we need to connect with our family in a deep and meaningful way.
“If you’ve got young children, preschooler, or toddler, this is the time for these kids to be running outside to be playing and imagining.”
So often this isn’t the case and children are absorbed in some form of media constantly. Soon, the child becomes dependent on the media and it can lead to complications down the road.
“When so early on, they are so attracted to that screen and their so used to it, their brains are so used to being with that screen, then it creates a whole host of attention and empathy problems when they are growing up.”
